First National Bank (FNB) Namibia has announced that the banking sector in Southern Africa will soon implement changes to how clients make and receive payments in the Common Monetary Area (CMA).

The modification is required due to new legislation governing the treatment of cross-border transfers, with which all institutions must comply.

FNB and RMB Namibia will transition to the new system on 11 June 2023.

FNB Namibia’s Payments Manager, Albert Matongela, in a press release on Tuesday said all cross-border Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments handled and received by clients within the CMA (Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa) would no longer be regarded as domestic payment methods.

Any cross-border payments to an individual or a business in the CMA should thus be initiated as a forex transaction/global payment on the FNB App and FNB Online Banking.

‘Beneficiaries of cross-border payments will also be required to provide Balance of Payments information to their bank before funds are released into their account,’ he explained.

Source: NAMPA