The Bank of Namibia (BoN) said on Tuesday that it will now handle the licensing and regulation of payment service providers instead of sharing the responsibility with the Payments Association of Namibia.
The central bank said this is in line with the recently promulgated Payment System Management Act 14 of 2023 (PSM Act).
“The rationale for having a single regulator is to provide regulatory certainty, reduce the administrative load on payment service providers by eliminating the need to interact with two regulators, and bring the domestic national payment system in line with international best practices,” Kazembire Zemburuka, the bank’s Director of Strategic Communications and International Relations said in a statement.
He said the central bank, in terms of Section 10 of the PSM Act, is responsible for licensing, regulating, and overseeing payment service providers, which include electronic money issuers, payment instrument issuers, payment intermediation service providers, as well as payment facilitators and processors.
“The Payments Association of Namibia will continue to exist and maintain its role as an advisory association and a collaborative platform for its members within the national payment system in terms of Section 5 of the PSM Act,” Zemburuka said.
The association will further, subject to BoN’s approval, establish criteria for member participation in payment systems and forums, as well as make and administer technical rules concerning payment instructions and payment instruments.
Zemburuka noted that the Act has further empowered the BoN to set technical standards and impose conditions to ensure that fees and charges related to the provision of payment services, payable by a user, are transparent and in the public interest.
“The Act further empowers the bank to conduct inspections and access information necessary to oversee the efficient functioning of the national payment system,” he said.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency