DAR ES SALAAM, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) has stepped up efforts to establish a regional instant payment network as Rwanda and Tanzania deepen the implementation of a cross-border payment integration framework, according to a statement issued on Friday by the regional bloc.
Experts from the two countries met in Tanzania's Zanzibar from Tuesday to Saturday to advance a Proof of Concept (PoC) linking Tanzania's Instant Payment System and Rwanda's national digital payment switch RSwitch to enable real-time, secure, and affordable cross-border transactions, the statement said.
Chairing the meeting, Nestory Nicholas Maro of the Bank of Tanzania said the PoC will help finalize technical, operational and regulatory requirements for interlinking the systems, initially focusing on person-to-person transfers.
According to the statement, the pilot project, part of the EAC Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan, seeks to reduce transaction costs, improve efficiency and expand financial inclusion in the region.
The Rwanda-Tanzania corridor is expected to serve as a model for scaling interoperable payment systems across the region, the statement said. ■