Reserve Bank of Fiji [File Photo]

Reserve Bank of Fiji Governor, Ariff Ali, has today announced the Go Live of the new National Payment System’s Automated Clearing House.

The ACH is part of ongoing efforts to reform the payment system and marks an important milestone in modernising the way we do business in Fiji.

This go-live represents a culmination of the industry and the RBF’s collective efforts over the last three years to digitally transform Fiji’s payment system with the objective of increased efficiency to support the economy.

The ACH is the second of two major components introduced, the first being the Real Time Gross Settlement System and Central Securities Depository, that was launched in November last year.

Following this Go Live, bank customers are expected to be able to carry out instant interbank transactions up to a specified limit between one Bank and another at any time.

This will be applicable for those banks that have implemented straight-through processing in their own environment.

Association of Banks in Fiji Chair, Haroon Ali says some significant advantages of the ACH facility is that it includes the immediate availability and readiness of funds for transactions between customers, irrespective of whether these occur within or outside standard business hours.

The system will form the pipeline for channelling approximately $200 billion worth of transactions annually.

Meanwhile, the RBF will continue its collaboration with the wider industry in the upcoming months for the interoperability of Mobile Wallets to Bank Accounts, which is expected to bring further enhancements and seamless payments within the system.

The RBF will also begin the awareness on phasing out of cheques shortly after the onboarding of the Mobile Network Operators.