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Liberia marches towardsinteroperable paymentecosystem

With IRIS deployed at the Central Bankof Liberia, local banks and mobilemoney operators are connecting withthe national switch to provide greateraccess to finance and less cashdependency to Liberians.

Liberia marches towardsinteroperable paymentecosystemLiberia, the ‘land of free’,Africa’s first and oldestmodern republic and one ofthe most promising countriesin West Africa has absorbedrecovery growth both post-war and the recent Ebolaepidemic. The country hasshifted its focus towardbui lding the economy,improving health services andengaging in wide-scaleinfrastructure reconstructionand development. Ambitiousgoals have been set out inLiberia Rising: 2030, Liberia’sl o n g t e r m v i s i o n o ft r a n s f o r m a t i o n a n ddevelopment.

Moving toward a prosperousand inclusive society, Liberiahas invested in various keypublic projects. One of themis to develop the country’sfinancial infrastructure andpromote financial inclusion.The Central Bank of Liberiahas been focusing onimproving the population’s

a c c e s s t o f i n a n c i a linstruments, promoting localbanking and non-bankingfinancial institutions (NBFIs)initiatives to reach out to theunbanked. As part ofstrengthening the bankinginfrastructure, CBL recentlycompleted multiple projectsincluding real-time grosssettlement (RTGS), scriptlesssecurity settlement (SSS) anda u t o m a t e d c h e q u eprocessing. The next step onCBL’s road map was to set uppayments ecosystem topromote cards, EFT andinteroperability within thecountry while acting as acatalyst to the motion offinancial inclusion of un-banked population. Thiswould not only ensurefinancial access to all Liberiansbut also make life easier forthe people.

Tps, a trusted paymentssolution provider

TPS has a successful track

ProjectFacts & FiguresTotal Population4.4 MillionFinancial Inclusion Rate19%Mobil Phone Penetration75%Internet Penetration21%Financial InfrastructureCommercial Banks: 9Bank Branches: 87Microfinance Institutions: 13Mobile Money Providers: 2

Project StakeholdersRegulator:Central Bank LiberiaConnected Banks:EcobankLiberian Bank for Development& Investment

Case study: Central Bank of Liberia

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record in designing and delivering national paymentprogrammes for both emerging and developed markets acrossmultiple regions. With representation in Western Africanthrough IPMC, one of the top IT firm and system integrator inGhana with local presence in Liberia, TPS and IPMC were mostsuited to CBL’s requirements and in line with vision of creatinga National Electronic Payment Switch (NEPS) and enablinginteroperability in Liberia.

TPS knew that to establish the country’s EFT foundation, therewas a need for an efficient and strong interbank paymentnetwork that would connect not just the banks but also themobile money providers. Hence, IRIS Enterprise Switch andSettlement System was deployed at CBL to handle financialand non-financial transactions cross banks as phase one ofthe project. The system went live in August 2016 with fourbanks joining the network; more banks and mobile moneyprogrammes are in the process of being boarded.

A multi-bank hosting system has been set up as well, to enablethe smaller banks in the country with e-banking services usingIRIS Multi-Institute Card Management and ATM/POS DrivingSystem. With this system in place, member banks can issuecards and connect their ATM and POS machines to offer digitalaccess to their account holders. Similarly, a gateway tointernational payment schemes is also being established,which will allow acceptance of cards at ATMs & POS terminalsacross the world and internal cards to be accepted withinLiberia.

In terms of expected strides towards promoting the use ofdigital channels and avoiding cash, bill payment is the mostcommon and widely accepted use. In Liberia there was a needfor a centralised aggregator that would cover payments forall domestic billers including electricity bills, DSTV bills, mobilephone bills and school fees. Addressing the need, TPS isdeploying its Utility Bill Payment System (UBPS) at the CBL tointerconnect billers, banks and mobile money operators inthe country. The system allows consumers to pay their billsthrough a single touchpoint/channel, be it a mobile moneywallet/agent, ATM or even local bank’s own channel or branch.

United Bank for AfricaGuaranty Trust BankMobile Money Providers:Lonestar CellCellcom

NeedsNational Payment FrameworkEffective Interoperability

ChallengesWeak infrastructureLimited skillset of humanresources in paymentstechnologyEbola virus (2014-2015)

SolutionsInterbank SwitchEnterprise SwitchEnterprise Card ManagementATM/POS Driving SystemUtility Bills Payment SystemNational Settlement &ReconciliationGateway to InternationalSchemesDispute ResolutionCRMAnalytics

BenefitsDigital TransformationFinancial Inclusion

Case study: Central Bank of Liberia

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“TPS knew that toestablish the country’sEFT foundation, there

was a need for anefficient and stronginterbank payment

network that wouldconnect not just the

banks but also themobile money

providers. Hence, IRISEnterprise Switch andSettlement System was

deployed at CBL.”

The system caters to billpresentment, payment andsettlement/reconciliationbetween all parties.

Liberia’s digital paymenttransformation

Today, the CBL is acting as theessential pillar to promotefinancial inclusion and developa digital payments ecosystemin the country, doing its parttowards creating a cash-lightsociety and driving sustainableeconomic development of thenation. With IRIS deployed atCBL, local banks and mobilem o n e y o p e r a t o r s a r econnecting with the nationalswitch to provide greateraccess to finance and less cash

dependency to Liberians. CBL,jointly with TPS & IPMC,marches ahead for furtherenabling the Liberian paymentl a n d s c a p e w i t h m o r einnovative phases.

CBL’s NEPS will also play a keyrole in the expansion of mobilemoney programmes in Liberia,as interoperability betweenmobile money providers andbanks is key for greateradaption. This would givethese institutions greateropportunity to increase thevolume of digital transactionsand contribute to an opendig i ta l ecosystem thatpromotes financial inclusion.

Case study: Central Bank of Liberia

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We are extremely excited to have the honour to become enablerof electronic retail payments in Liberia at the national level. Ourexperience to have provided these solutions at different placesacross the globe gives us the confidence and capability to putthe foundation of electronic payments at developing marketslike Liberia and become catalyst of economic growth of thecountry.

— Shahzad Shahid, CEO, TPS

IPMC is a key player in West African technology space and NEPSproject which forms the foundation stone of Liberian paymentlandscape is a testament of our commitment towards the region.

— Amar Deep Hari, CEO, IPMC

TPS AdvantageTPS is a leading provider of cards and payment

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We offer a blend of business consulting and

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