digital payment systems

FINANCIAL institutions have been advised to use electronic payment systems to help in curbing financial leakages and enable monitoring of all transactions.

Assistant Manager of Tanzania National Payment Systems (TIPS) from the Bank of Tanzania (BOT), Mr Mutashobya Mushumbusi, gave the advice at a public lecture organised by the Institute of Financial Management (IFM), which was discussing on the shared system and applications in the financial sector.

He said that so far, 42 financial institutions in the country have joined electronic system to carry out various financial transactions in order to process payments, calling on others to emulate the same.

The already-joined institutions with TIPS includes mobile telephone companies, banks, and other related financial service providers.

“BOT created this system and is the one which runs it. The improvements we are talking about are to add services that we see citizens want more because we believe that these payment systems will help to improve the economy,” he said.

He added that there was a need to improve these interconnected systems to trim down transaction costs, insisting “We believe that it will reduce costs on the part of financial service providers as well as customers who are the end users.”

Mr Musumbusi  highlighted that the delay in joining the TIPS was due to lack of readiness among financial institutions to provide electronic services.