National Payment Systems Directives on Electronic Money Issuance, 2018 (CB Circular No. 01/2018)

The National Payment Systems Directives on Electronic Money Issuance, 2018 (issued as Bank of Zambia CB Circular No. 01/2018) were the Bank of Zambia's framework for the issuance of electronic money under the National Payment Systems Act, 2007. They have since been superseded by the National Payment Systems Directives on Electronic Money Issuance, 2023 (Gazette No. 958 of 2023) and are retained here for historical and comparative reference. The 2018 Directives applied to electronic money issuers, including banks and non-bank e-money issuers and mobile money operators, together with their agents. They required authorisation/designation by the Bank of Zambia before issuing electronic money and set out the licensing criteria, including legal form, fit-and-proper standards for shareholders, directors and management, governance, and operational and security capacity. A central requirement was the protection of customer funds: issuers had to hold the funds received from customers in exchange for electronic money in a trust account at a commercial bank, fully backing the outstanding e-money float and ring-fenced from the issuer's own funds and creditors. The Directives also governed float and liquidity management, agent-network management and oversight, customer due diligence and KYC tiers with transaction and balance limits, anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing compliance, consumer protection and disclosure, and reporting to the Bank of Zambia, which supervised issuers and could take enforcement action. They provided the regulatory foundation for the rapid growth of mobile money in Zambia between 2018 and 2023, before being replaced by the updated 2023 Directives, which modernised and tightened the regime. This instrument is recorded as Superseded.

1. 1Former framework for electronic money issuance in Zambia under the National Payment Systems Act, 2007; superseded by the 2023 Directives
2. 2Required Bank of Zambia authorisation/designation before issuing e-money and set fit-and-proper, governance and operational criteria
3. 3Required customer funds to be held in a trust account at a commercial bank, fully backing the float and ring-fenced from the issuer
4. 4Governed float/liquidity and agent-network management
5. 5Imposed CDD/KYC tiers and limits, AML/CFT, consumer protection and reporting, with BoZ supervision and enforcement