The Ethiopia Automated Transfer System (EATS) was launched on 27 May 2011. It will be introduced in banks all over the country early this week according to Getahun Nana, vice governor of National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). Almost all banks have already finalized their automation and are in the process of networking their branches.

The EATS will set up a modern national payment system which facilitates bank large volume money transfer among banks and interface with the retail payment system. While the large sum transfer is mostly the responsibility of central banks, the private sector could handle the retail transfer once it proves competent.

The EATS will replace cash and cheque based transactions. It will consist of two parallel lines of transactions. The basic infrastructure for interbank large money transfers and interfacing with the retail payment system will be provided by the NPS.

The national payment system council regulation and oversight directive have been drafted. The new bill was tabled by the parliament early this month. And it will be issued after the enactment of the proclamation, Getahun said.

The NBE says the new law will ensure security and efficiency of a payment system that will be using electronic transfer devises like ATM, Mobile Banking, Point of Sales, Internet and payment cards.

The new system is believed to help the banks upgrade service and increase capital.

Source: Capital Ethiopia News