The Central Bank of Seychelles Upgrades its Electronic Funds Transfer System in Cooperation with ProgressSoft

Victoria, February 13, 2017

The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), in collaboration with ProgressSoft Corporation, the Seychelles Credit Union (SCU) and the commercial banks in the country, concluded the upgrade of the Seychelles Electronic Funds Transfer (SEFT) system.

The upgrade on the system that was originally deployed in 2013 added a number of features that contribute to a smoother money transfer process. Those features included offering online access to registered customers to initiate payments where internet access is available and allowing for online payment facility as another payment option for e-businesses, in addition to the ability of accessing the system via the mobile to view payments status.

As part of this upgrade, the commercial banks and SCU have integrated their core banking systems with SEFT to allow for Straight-Through-Processing (STP) of transactions without manual intervention, whereby customers’ account would be debited and credited immediately. Consequently, customers will have quicker access to their funds and receive instant notifications via e-mail or SMS.

CBS was grateful for the efforts of ProgressSoft in realizing the central bank’s objectives to continuously modernise the country’s payment systems and services by providing a better payment experience to the government, businesses and the general public.

ProgressSoft’s Electronic Funds Transfer system, PS-EFT is an advanced electronic funds transfer system that provides the facility to transfer funds from one place to another via electronic channels. PS-EFT eliminates the need for physical exchange of money, along with the physical presence of the payer and the payee at their corresponding banks. This results in achieving a hassle-free payment experience for both retail and corporate bank customers.

PS-EFT is a fully Straight-Through-Processing (STP) solution with the objective of facilitating same-day electronic funds transfer between banks. It provides the bank customers with the means to initiate payment transactions through an online web-access. The clearing process of those transactions is carried out within the same business day.

It is worth mentioning that ProgressSoft had been in partnership with CBS in other previous countrywide projects such as the Electronic Check Clearing system that was deployed all throughout the banks of the country and enabling a same-day check clearing and settlement process.