A new era for the Mozambican banking system has been announced by the Bank of Mozambique. All of the country's commercial banks and electronic money institutions have completed their integration into an innovative single national electronic payments network. This platform, developed by Euronet, comes five years after a significant incident that affected the country's financial system.
The Interbank Society of Mozambique (SIMO
), with this upgrade, is now aligned with international standards in payment systems. One of the most notable features of this new era is the introduction of contactless technology on all bank cards and POS terminals. The Bank of Mozambique, in a recent statement, emphasised the advantages of this technology, highlighting the security and convenience it provides to users.
Since 19 November 2023, all commercial banks and electronic money institutions have operated exclusively through the new SIMORede platform. This milestone is seen as a crucial step in the modernisation of Mozambique's National Payment System, promising to revitalise the electronic payments sector in the country.
The new SIMORede platform is distinguished by its diverse range of products and services. One of its strengths is interoperability, allowing effective interconnection between the different electronic money institutions, banks and other financial service providers.
It will be recalled that, in November 2018, a 'blackout' caused significant disruption to ATMs and card transactions at several Mozambican banks. This incident, caused by payment failures and other defaults attributed to SIMO, was explained at the time by the Portuguese technology company Bizfirst.
The situation led to a concerted intervention by the Mozambican government and the affected banks, culminating in an effort led by the Bank of Mozambique to establish and implement this new, unified electronic payments network, now operational. This development represents a significant advance for Mozambique's financial system, promising greater efficiency and security in the country's financial transactions.
