Tanzania to roll cashless payment system

Tanzania may step into new mode of payment this January if things go according to plan. It will be known as Tanzania Instant Payment System (TIPS) and to include banking as well as non-banking financial channels.

TIPS is designed to promote electronic payment or cashless payment system and reduce the need of cash for assorted transactions in the country to a large extent.

Preparations for TIPS were put under way in June this year and its formal launching is scheduled for June 2020. Until then it will be rolled over to financial products and services providers.

According to Bank of Tanzania (BoT) acting director for National Payment System, Ms Lucy Shaidi, the new TIPS system will enable instant payment in real time.

She added when a payer initiates a payment, all the concerned in the transaction loop will be informed within few seconds about whether the payment was successful or not.

Shaidi further said, “The aim is to ensure that customers of all payment services in the banking and non-banking sectors are on one platform.”

She continued saying that TIPS will operate in card-based payments, mobile banking, internet banking and e-money schemes.

The new system will be time effective as well as cost effective. It will be fast and secure too. For service providers it will reduce operational costs to great extent.

Presently the country uses East Africa Cross-border Payment System (EAPS) and Tanzania Interbank Settlement System (TISS), but both are costly while making transactions.