CBI Unveils Mobile Payment Platform

Central Bank of Iran and Shaparak Company, Iran’s payment network supervisor, have required all payment service provider companies to use the newly-launched “Peyvand system” instead of the low-security USSD platform. Nasser Hakimi, the director of CBI’s IT Department, said all mobile transactions should take place in the new platform from December 21. “Law-breaking PSPs will be fined or banned from using the system,” Banker.ir quoted Hakimi as saying on Monday. The CBI launched Peyvand in late September, in line with plans to raise the security of mobile transactions. The central bank last year introduced a ban on mobile payments through Unstructured Supplementary Services Data for fear of fraud. However, it decided to come up with an alternative platform. About 12% of electronic payments in Iran take place through online payment gateways.