SEFT system operational for banks only as from Monday |11 February 2017

As mentioned by the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), currently the Seychelles Electronic Funds Transfer (SEFT) system is going through an update and the system will be fully online for the banks only as from Monday morning.

All banks will be using a new upgraded system, whereas individual customers will be able to benefit from the SEFT as from May of this year.

Patricia Padayachy, senior banking officer at the CBS met the press yesterday to give further details on the upgraded system.

“As stated before, CBS in partnership with the commercial banks and Seychelles Credit Union (SCU) launched the 1st phase of the SEFT system in 2013. SEFT is an interbank domestic funds transfer system that facilitates money transfers through a secure online communication channel. The overall system is managed by the CBS. But the system will be available for customers only in May. SEFT Phase II will provide the following additional facilities: customer online payment facility which will allow customer with the means to initiate payment transaction online such as rent, PUC bills, phone bills and any government services fees. The system provides this facility to the customers through a web based front-end accessible through the SEFT website. The system will also allow users to do Bulk Upload; Future Value Payment; Audit Trails; Multiple Reports; Provide Email and Mobile Notification Messages and Alerts; Multiple Integration Options including Real Time Straight Through Processing; Disaster Recovery Facility; Flagging of Transactions based on Specific Search Terms; Secure Login with use of CAPTCHA and One Time Pass Code sent to users mobile phone.”

Ms Padayachy also said that the set of functionalities exposed to the customers are as follows: Outward Payment Transaction Initiation Pages module; Payment File Upload (Bulk Payment Initiation); Future Value Payments Management Pages; Inward Payment Transactions modules; Beneficiaries Management and various reports. Customers will be able to pay for their online purchases using this facility at registered EFT online payment service providers.

How efficient has this system proved to be? “Firstly it reduced the amount a staff would take to process a transaction. Since its inception, the system has registered a total number of 189,132 transactions and last year 84,401 were made with the sum of R6.2 billion transferred locally. In 2013 the figures were 2633 transactions effected with R467 million transferred. Year by year, the banks are using it more and finally it will reduce the cost of the transaction. We hope that once the upgrade is completed, the customers will make full use of the system,” said Ms Padayachy.

In other countries, online payment is a usual feature offered by the commercial banks and here in Seychelles, the CBS came up with this system in order to allow the public in general to benefit from it.

“We know that not all the banks will be able to afford to give this facility to their clients and as CBS we have the responsibility to look into the welfare of all,” said Ms Padayachy.

The CBS will let the individual customers know when the system is ready for use and they just need to register with their banks to be able to access it.