Pan-African Payment and Settlement System

Short description: International payment system

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is a Pan-African real-time gross settlement (RTGS) infrastructure for cross-border payments in distinct local currencies. It was publicly launched on January 13, 2022[1] by the African Union (AU) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to compliment trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with further future planned rollout in the Caribbean region by end of 2024.[2]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 How it works
* 3 Central banks
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## History

PAPSS was first mentioned on the 7 July 2019[3] at the 12th Extraordinary Session of The African Union Assembly in Niamey, Niger to support the launch of the operational phase of AfCFTA.[4] It started as a pilot project among the 6 countries in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) before it became publicly available.[3] In 2023 several nations of the Caribbean Community[5] began to implement a pilot framework for using the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System to facilitate trade between the Caribbean and Africa.[6][7] The move coincided with the Afreximbank agreeing to designate the Caribbean region as a diaspora-related sixth region of Africa and opened an office in the Caribbean island of Barbados. PAPSS is slated to be rolled out among Caribbean countries which have already signed the agreement with Afreximbank, and is slated to come on stream in Q4, 2024.[8]

## How it works

Here is a simplified overview of how PAPSS works[9]

1. A company issues a payment instrument to their local bank or payment service provider
2. The payment instruction is sent to PAPSS through the country's central bank and routes it to the beneficiary bank account
3. PAPSS performs all validation checks on payment instruction before it sends it forwards it to the beneficiary's central bank and eventually to the local bank account
4. PAPSS sends credit or debit settlement instruction to the Central Bank of the originator and the Central Bank of the beneficiary. The Central Banks settle the transaction in hard currency, using Afreximbank as the settlement agent.
5. Once the cross-border net settlement is complete, the beneficiary receives the funds in their local currency.[10]

On a daily basis, PAPSS settles the balance of all of the transactions among individual African currencies, netting them out prior to midnight. Central Banks then resolve the remaining difference. The payments and settlement process starts again from net zero the next day.[11]

## Central banks

See also: List of central banks of Africa, List of currencies in Africa, and Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean

These are the banks enrolled in PAPSS (November 2025)[12]

* Bank of Ghana
* Central Bank of Nigeria
* Central Bank of Liberia
* Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea
* Bank of Sierra Leone
* Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
* Central Bank of Djibouti
* Bank of Zambia
* Central Bank of Kenya
* Central Bank of The Gambia
* Central Bank of Tunisia
* Central Bank of Egypt
* Central Bank of the Comoros
* Reserve Bank of Malawi
* Bank Al-Maghrib
* Bank of Algeria
* National Bank of Rwanda
* Bank of the Republic of Burundi

## See also

* Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payments System (CIPS)
* Indian Financial System Code (IFSC)
* Fedwire
* Mir (payment system)
* Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS)
* List of financial regulatory authorities by country
* Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (Swift)
* SWIFT ban against Russian banks
* Real-time gross settlement

## References

1. ↑ Ifeanyi, Ubah Jeremiah (2022-01-14). "PAPSS officially launched to aid payment transaction across Africa" (in en-US). https://nairametrics.com/2022/01/14/papss-officially-launched-to-aid-payment-transaction-across-africa/.
2. ↑ Abimbola, Oluwakemi (2024-07-11). "AfreximBank to train businesses in AfCFTA" (in en-US). https://punchng.com/afreximbank-to-train-businesses-in-afcfta/?amp.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Santosdiaz, Richie (2022-06-25). "Overview of The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System PAPSS" (in en-GB). https://thefintechtimes.com/overview-of-the-pan-african-payment-and-settlement-system-papss/.
4. ↑ "Decisions of the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly | African Union". https://au.int/en/decisions/decisions-12th-extraordinary-session-assembly.
5. ↑ Thiongane, Papa Samba (26 October 2023). "CARICOM Central Banks adopt PAPSS for intra-regional trade transactions". Pan-African P&SS (published 27 October 2023). https://www.papss.com/media/caricom-central-banks-adopt-papss-for-intra-regional-trade-transactions/.
6. ↑ Chance, Kenton X. (20 June 2023). "11 CARICOM countries to pilot Africa trade payment system". iWitness News. https://www.iwnsvg.com/2023/06/20/11-caricom-countries-to-pilot-africa-trade-payment-system/.
7. ↑ Forde-Craigg, Sheena (2 September 2022). "Establishing Direct Airlift Between African And The Caribbean". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. https://www.foreign.gov.bb/establishing-direct-airlift-between-african-and-the-caribbean/.
8. ↑ Clark, Joanne (12 August 2023). "Afreximbank unveils Caribbean office in Barbados". Caribbean National Weekly. https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/business/afreximbank-unveils-caribbean-office-in-barbados/.
9. ↑ Ozili, Peterson K, Decentralised Finance and Cryptocurrency Activity in Africa (January 5, 2022). CSEF Volume 109, 2022, Available at SSRN: SSRN 4001707
10. ↑ "AfCFTA: AFREXIMBANK to facilitate pan-African payment system with Arabs – Mediatracnet" (in en-US). https://mediatracnet.com/2022/04/afcfta-afreximbank-to-facilitate-pan-african-payment-system-with-arabs/.
11. ↑ "Pan-African Payment and Settlement System" (in en). https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/pan-african-payment-and-settlement-system.
12. ↑ "Network" (in en-US). https://papss.com/network/.

## External links

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Credit, charge and debit cards

Major cards|

* American Express
* Diners Club
* Mastercard
* Debit Mastercard
* Maestro
* Visa
* Visa Debit
* Visa Electron

Regional and
specialty cards|

* Bancomat
* BC Card
* BCA Card
* Cabcharge
* Dankort
* Discover
* EFTPOS
* Electronic Payment Services (EPS)
* Elo
* Forbrugsforeningen
* Girocard
* Interac
* Isracard
* JCB
* Mir
* MEPS
* NETS
* PayPak
* RuPay
* Troy
* UnionPay
* UATP
* V Pay
* Verve

Defunct cards|

* Access
* Bankcard
* Carte Blanche
* Carte Bleue
* Choice
* enRoute
* Eurocard
* Everything
* Laser
* Rail Travel Card
* Revolution Card
* Solo
* Switch
* PIN

Accounts|

* Payment card number
* Card association
* Card enclosure
* Credit card balance transfer
* Credit limit
* Installment credit
* Revolving account
* Deposit account
* Current/checking account
* Savings account
* ATM card
* Fees

Debt|

* Cash advance
* Charge-off

Interest|

* Grace period
* Introductory rate
* Universal default

Payment|

* Card not present transaction
* Chargeback
* Controlled payment number
* Dispute

Interchange|

* Interchange fee
* Surcharge
* Card scheme

Security|

* Card security code
* Chargeback fraud
* Credit card fraud
* Credit card hijacking

Technology|

* Automated teller machine
* Contactless payment
* EMV
* Hardware security module
* Interbank network
* Magnetic stripe card
* Payment terminal
* Personal identification number
* Secure cryptoprocessor
* Smart card

Banking|

* Issuing bank
* Acquiring bank

* v
* t
* e

Interbank networks by region

Worldwide|

* Cirrus
* Plus

Africa|

* 123
* Multicaixa

Asia|

* 1LINK
* ALTO
* atm5
* ATM Bersama
* BancNet
* Banks ATM Network and Customer Services
* Cashnet
* CashTree
* Clearing House Automated Transfer System (CHATS)
* Dutch Bangla Bank Nexus
* Encash Network Service
* Electronic Payment Services (EPS)
* EZ-Link
* Faster Payment System (FPS)
* Isracard
* JETCO
* LankaPay
* Link
* MEPS
* MEPS+
* MITR ATM Sharing Network
* MNET
* MyClear
* National Financial Switch
* Nationlink
* NETS
* PRIMA/ATM BCA
* RuPay
* Saudi Payments Network
* Shetab Banking System
* SLIPS
* The Benefit Company
* Treats/ATM BNI
* UnionPay
* Yucho

Europe|

* 4B
* Allied Irish Banks Banklink
* Bancomat
* Eufiserv
* Euro 6000
* Euronet Worldwide
* Girocard
* Bankcard-Servicenetz
* Cash Group
* CashPool
* Groupement des Cartes Bancaires CB
* LINK
* Multibanco
* Otto.
* Sbercard
* Servired
* Single Euro Payments Area
* Vocalink
* Zolotaya Korona

North America|

* Abby
* Accel/The Exchange
* Acculink
* Alberta Regional Network
* Allpoint
* Armed Forces Financial Network
* ATH
* CarIFS
* CO-OP Financial Services
* Discover Network
* Pulse
* TYME
* FIS's
* NYCE
* SUM
* Interac
* Interlink
* Jeanie
* MoneyPass
* Presto!
* SHAZAM
* STAR
* Alert
* BankMate
* Cactus
* Cash Station
* Explore
* Honor
* Money Access Center
* Via
* MOST

Oceania|

* EFTPOS

South America|

* Banco 24 Horas
* Banelco
* A Toda Hora
* Banred
* GlobalNet
* Redbanc
* Suiche7B

* Book
* Category

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-African Payment and Settlement System. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Finance:Pan-African_Payment_and_Settlement_System&oldid=3849089"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template