Nat Switch incorporates other payment systems
National Switch (Nat Switch) Limited has unveiled plans to incorporate other payment systems used by mobile network operators, micro finance institutions and other third party processors into the national shared switch platform.
Nat Switch Limited project manager Gertrude Kadumbo, in response to an e-mailed questionnaire on Friday, said the move is aimed at promoting usage of electronic payment systems in the country.
“The Nat Switch has not only interconnected [commercial] banks, but also customers of banks are using the service. There is not only interconnectivity, but there is also effective interconnection through usage by the public,” she said.
A recent Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) National Payment System report noted that total cash withdrawals through automated teller machines (ATMs) linked to the Nat Switch increased in February 2016.
According to the report, the volume of withdrawals through the platform rose by 1.8 percent to 100 223 while the value registered a one percent increase to K1.7 billion.
Nat Switch has made some ATMs in the country available to all customers of the commercial banks and has provided the banking sector a larger payment ecosystem.
Nat Switch is a World Bank funded project under the five-year Financial Sector Technical Assistance Project (Fstap).
Member banks contributed to the project through subscription of equal shares in the Nat Switch Limited.
Kadumbo said Bankers Association of Malawi (BAM) has put structures in place to address some of the challenges that bank customers have been facing recently when transacting on Nat Switch-branded ATMs. n
