By Delisa Thwala
Payment needs are rapidly evolving towards digitalization in Eswatini. This is evident from the increasing popularity and use cases of mobile money to the rise of innovative payment mechanisms.
On April 15, 2024, countries belonging to the Common Monetary Area (CMA) effected changes in cross-border payment arrangements.
Eswatini Bank has assured its clients that there will be no disturbances in the cross-border payment processing for its clients.
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This was during their business Forum at the Eswatini International Trade Fair. The Bank assured its customers that they were not going to be affected, instead, all payments were going to be swift.
The bank’s Executive Manager of Credit Sizwe Dlamini said the bank has worked tirelessly to decentralize its services, to ensure that they expand their reach.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Eswatini Bankers Association (EBA) informed banking customers that the changes follow instructions from banking sector regulators.
The association reported that the result of the change will be that cross-border payments and collections will no longer be made through domestic services and the internal electronic funds transfer (EFT) channels provided by banks.
The initial change is between South Africa and Namibia, with Eswatini and Lesotho planned for change on September 30, 2024.
These changes are being implemented to enhance the efficiency and security of cross-border financial transactions and will affect all banks that make cross-border payments and collections.
The April conversion between South Africa and Namibia, which has now been agreed upon between the South African Reserve Bank and their Namibian counterparts, will have an immediate impact on cross-border transactions between Eswatini and Namibia before the full impact in September.
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This change will impact mainly on low-value (below a E5million) cross-border transactions and will have implications on clearing times as well as costs.
The change will also affect companies that make cross-border salaries, insurance, and pension payments to Eswatini.
The banking institutions are working tirelessly to ensure that the migration is done seamlessly so that there is no negative impact on customers.
The banks will also be issuing individual communiqués to their customers that will indicate how their low-value payments between Eswatini and Namibia will be impacted from April 15, 2024, onwards.
