LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Electronic payments across the country witnessed a jump of 1248.3% in the first six months of this year, as a result of the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar.
According to the governor of the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), John Mangudya, electronic payments totaled ZWL 83.6 trillion in the first half of this year, up from ZWL 6.2 trillion reported in the prior comparative period.
Mangudya asserted that the increase was primarily brought on by fluctuating exchange rates and a rise in the dollarization of the economy, which led to a fall in the value of the Zimbabwean dollar in comparison to the US dollar and other major currencies.
Unfortunately, the volumes keep declining as a result of the weaker aggregate demand for goods and services.
However, overall digital payment transaction values rose by an average of 40%, despite a marginal 4% decline in volume.
“During the six months to June 2023, a total of 376.6m transactions valued at ZWL$83.6 trillion were processed through the national payment system. Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) continues to dominate because it caters to large value transactions with a value of ZWL$48 trillion during the first half of 2023,” Mangudya said.
He added: “During the first half of 2022, the highest growth in electronic payments occurred on the high value system (RTGS) with 6.7m transactions valued at ZWL$6.2 trillion. The retail payment systems interoperability focuses on the direct transfers processed through mobile, internet, POS, and ATM platforms integrated into the national switch.”
Digital payment system value increased by 233% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, while volume fell by 13%.
Mangudya claimed that the payment systems services sector, which consists of 25 participant banks and 24 payment system providers, is still solid and safe and has made significant progress.
There were 14 Zimbabwean participant banks on the SADC Real Gross Settlement System (SADC-RTGS).
During the period under review, approximately 2,159 transactions totaling ZAR3.1 billion were processed.
Interoperability transactions in Zimbabwe kept growing, reaching ZWL$187.5 billion in retail digital transactions processed in June.
With the exception of credit cards, all access points saw growth during the examined period.
In accordance with the SWIFT deadline of March 2023, local financial institutions successfully upgraded their SWIFT infrastructure for incoming Cross Border Payments and Reporting plus (CBPR+) on the implementation of the ISO20022 standard.
Banks continue to work towards ensuring full compliance with the other outstanding SWIFT Cross Border outgoing payment processes for the CBPR+ ISO 20022 program .
The SADC-RTGS went live in August 2023.
