More than Rwf960 billion has been transferred through eKash payment system, less than a month after the country completed the migration of all domestic interoperable retail payments onto the national instant payment platform.

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The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), which announced the figures on Wednesday, August 5, said eKash has processed more than 10.5 million transactions since its nationwide rollout in mid-July, with an average 98.6 per cent successful transaction rate.

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The platform is designed to make digital payments more affordable, accessible and efficient by creating one payment infrastructure that links banks, mobile money providers, SACCOs and microfinance institutions.

Unlike the previous system where financial institutions relied on separate connections and agreements to exchange payments with one another, eKash allows participating institutions to connect through one national payment switch.

This enables customers to transfer money across different financial platforms, including between bank accounts and mobile wallets, between different banks, from mobile wallets to bank accounts, and between different mobile money providers.

The number of people actively using interoperable digital payment services has also increased significantly since the rollout. The central bank said users grew from 740,787 in June to 1,971,522 by the end of July, representing a 166 per cent increase.

"BNR acknowledges the positive response to eKash and thanks the public for their continued trust and constructive feedback, which has contributed to the ongoing improvement of the service,” the bank said.

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The system has also introduced lower transaction costs for customers transferring money between different financial institutions.

Transfer charges have been lowered to Rwf20 for transactions of up to Rwf10 million.

Merchant payments processed through eKash do not attract eKash transaction charges for either customers or merchants.

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While most transactions have been completed successfully, the central bank noted that some users experienced delays and failed transactions during the initial rollout.

"These issues are being addressed by participating financial institutions and the system operator under the oversight of the National Bank of Rwanda,” the central bank said.

It added that continuous improvements will be made to strengthen system performance and customer service.

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Launched in 2022, eKash initially focused on enabling interoperability between mobile money service providers before expanding to commercial banks, SACCOs and microfinance institutions.

The platform now connects 22 financial institutions, including banks, mobile money operators, SACCOs and microfinance institutions.