The Central Bank of Iran says it expects growth in the use of its recently-unveiled instant interbank transaction network, known as Pol.
Hamidreza Norouzi, the head of the Pol project, said the new system is currently processing an average of 9,000 transactions a day worth 2,170 billion rials.
"This service is offered via almost 40% of bank gateways in the country," the Electronic Banking magazine quoted Norouzi as saying.
"The network is expected to process millions of transactions everyday after all banks are integrated.”
The CBI on Wednesday unveiled an instant payment system, which is planned to replace the apparently risky but popular card-to-card money transfers in Iran.
According to Mehran Moharramian, the CBI deputy governor for innovative technologies, the new system is similar to card-to-card transfers. "Users will have to provide bank a/c number(s) for transfer instead of bank card numbers, which is more secure."
Domestic banks on average process 450 to 500 million interbank transactions a month.
The new payment system is an interbank platform operating under CBI auspices and handles instant payments irrespective of the amount 24/7.
The CBI on Wednesday unveiled an instant payment system, which is planned to replace the apparently risky but popular card-to-card money transfers in Iran
Users can transfer up to 150 million rials a day, which is considerably higher than the daily cap for card-to-card transactions.
The system also has other advantages like reducing payment costs, detecting fraud and expanding innovative products.
Card-to-card transactions are handled by the CBI's SAHAB platform. SAHAB is a card-based fund transfer system connected to SHETAB (the national interbank network) center, allowing customers to send money to any SHETAB-member bank with their own cards.
The instant payment completes the ecosystem of account-based transactions. Customers can transfer up to 1 billion rials a day without referring to [other] branches using PAYA. Large transactions are handled by SATNA and the new system will cover transactions from 150 million to one billion rials.
Development
Mohammad Mirza Aghaei, the head of the national payment systems at the Informatics Services Corporation, said banks and “other stakeholders were involved” in developing the advanced platform.
"Efforts were centered on creating a norm compatible with the country's needs and the banking system.”
According to the CBI, instant payment transaction are now available in Bank Melli, Ayandeh Bank, Bank Saderat, Keshavarzi Bank, Parsian Bank, Saman Bank, Dey Bank, Cooperatives Development Bank, Bank Pasargad Iran, Tourism Bank, Sarmayeh Bank, Bank of Industry and Mine, ENbank, Sina Bank, Bank Maskan, Shahr Bank, Post Bank Iran, Iran Zamin Bank and Middle East Bank.
The system has been welcomed by senior bankers and other lenders are in the process of meeting the eligibility needs for getting connected.
Rada Alijani, an official with Bank Ayandeh, says the instant payment system is efficient and logged considerably less failures during the nine months of its pilot program in her bank.
"Unlike other major projects, the Pol system was developed quietly concentrating on technical issues," she said, "It is visibly popular with bank customers."
