By Nokunceda Magagula | 2025-03-11

The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) has outlined the primary hurdles causing delay for banks and fintechs to fully integrate into the fast payment module.
This module is the first phase of Eswatini Payment Switch (EPS).
CBE stated that the primary hurdles lie in the misalignment of technical standards that has hindered a seamless integration process.
In addition to technical discrepancies, institutions were grappling with vendor and resource delays, which have contributed to slower-than-expected delivery timelines.
The CBE had set a deadline of February 28 for all participants to integrate into the fast payment system, emphasising the urgency for progress.

As of the latest updates from the CBE, only three participants have successfully deployed their solutions to production. Notably, INSTACASH had completed all necessary testing with live transactions and has begun offering its product to customers.
This achievement marks a significant milestone in the integration process. Meanwhile, two other participants, First National Bank (FNB) and MTN, were still in the process of conducting live transaction testing.
“They are currently working with a limited number of customers as they strive to meet all test conditions before full deployment,” said the bank.
The CBE has committed to utilising all available tools to ensure the successful on-boarding of all participants into the fast payment module.
The regulator's proactive approach aims to address the challenges faced by institutions and facilitate a smoother integration process moving forward.
The fast payment module, enables the processing of payments within seconds.This module provides availability of payment services every day of the week, including weekends and holidays.
During the launch of the first phase the CBE Governor, Dr Phil Mnisi said participation in this module was mandatory for all payment service fast payment services by the end of January 2025.
Dr Mnisi stated that the country had eight participants actively working towards integration with the Switch.
He noted that, given the varying existing systems, infrastructural arrangements, and resource distribution, integration had not been uniform across the industry. “For now, fast payment transactions are limited to a maximum of E50 000 for a single transaction for bank accounts and E10 000 per transaction for digital wallets. The daily limit for senders is E50 000.
“This means Emaswati can now use the live participants’ digital platforms to transact using their service providers’ existing digital channels such as cellphone banking app and online banking,” the governor said.
The EPS refers to a system operated by the CBE that enables seamless inter-connectivity between banks, mobile money operators, and fintech platforms.
It allows for fast and secure money transfers between different financial institutions within the country; essentially facilitating a cashless payment ecosystem by enabling instant transactions across various payment methods.
Phase two and three of the EPS were expected to be implemented within the next 18 months.
When delivering his budget speech, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg said the project was on-going and would be implemented in three phases.
The first phase is the fast payments, second one is open banking, and third is card point of sale (POS) and ATM switching.
He said Eswatini banks and non-banking sector were expected to go live on fast payments during the first quarter of 2025.
Rijkenberg stated that the fast payments phase was launched on the December 11, 2024 with three institutions already on board.
He mentioned that one would then notice that if they make payments between banks in Eswatini, those transactions would reflect instantly.
The minister said phase two of the EPS would also commence in the first quarter of 2025.
“Upon the conclusion of this phase, the project will proceed to the implementation of the final phase,” he said.

The minister said open banking aimed to expand access to certain accounts, wallets and payment services to fintech, than limiting it to just current providers of accounts and digital wallets.
“Point of sale and ATM switching is the final phase of the project,” he said.
Minister Rijkenberg said this phase aimed to localise the processing of domestic card transactions and enable the use of any ATM for certain financial services.

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