Hard cash soon a thing of the past

Bahrain will soon move to a financial ecosystem that relies less on paper cash, thanks to the new initiative by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Benefit Company.

Electronic Fund Transfer System introduced by CBB and Benefit, presents a state-of-the-art fund transfer and settlement system, which would cut down time and effort by automating the whole process. This new system will also herald an era of low-cost banking.

The new system, though debuted on November 5, was officially announced yesterday. The announcement was made by Director of Banking Services at the Central Bank of Bahrain Ahmed Buhijji, CEO of Benefit Abdulwahid Janahi, and DGM Business Development, Benefit Yousif AlNefaie. 

 The E.F.T.S is an electronic system that connects all retail banks in Bahrain with each other and major billers in the Kingdom to enhance the efficiency of fund transfers and bill payments.

It provides three distinct services, namely Fawri+, Fawri and Fawateer.   

Fawri+, is an almost real-time fund transfer service, which allows individuals or entities to transfer funds of up to BD1,000 per day in less than 30 seconds. The system is active 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Fawri, the second service, is a deferred settlement fund transfer service that allows individuals or entities to transfer any amount of money within just a few hours of the business day.

Fawateer, the third service, aggregates bills from multiple billers and presents those bills to the individuals or entities in a single interface. Fawateer provides real-time bill payments that can easily be settled within 30 seconds.

Janahi said that the Fawri+ transfers of less BD1OO will be free of charge and transfers of BD100 to BD1000 will have a minimal charge of less than 100 fils. This is in contrast to the current practice of charging BD3 or more for many transactions.

E.F.T.S project was built over 18 months, Janahi told DT News. “We ran pilot studies from June and were satisfied with the reliability of the system. As we move forward, the chances of errors will be reduced further as more feedback and experience are accrued.”

Buhijji said, “The main purpose of the E.F.T.S is to ensure convenience, speed, usability and security when executing fund transfers and bill payments of all kinds at the lowest possible price. The Central Bank has assigned Benefit to operate and implement the E.F.T.S project given its expertise, capabilities and solid infrastructure that will guarantee smooth and secure implementation.”

The new system will have participation from 26 retail banks in the Kingdom. Major Service providers in Bahrain including EWA, Customs Affairs and major telecom companies are expected to utilise the system for bill processing including direct debit services.

Individuals will be able to use the E.F.T.S by visiting banks’ branches in addition to online mediums including mobile banking and Internet banking.