Fifty million transactions worth $3 billion dollars are expected to be conducted through digital mobile wallets this year according to Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) Governor Ariff Ali.
And payments made via QR code, bank-to-wallet, and wallet-to-bank transfers have also surged, while inward remittances via mobile networks now account for almost half of the $1.3 billion in annual inflows.
Mr Ali revealed this in a workshop in Nadi last week, where financial stakeholders and central bank governors from across the Pacific discussed fast payment systems, an important pre-requisite in today’s digital finance landscape.
The exponential growth in Fiji’s digital financial transactions, he said, was the direct result of Fiji’s investment in its payments system reforms.
“Automated teller machines (ATMs), EFTPOS and internet banking in the late 1990s set the platform for electronic and digital transformation early this century, followed by the launch of large-value RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement system), mobile money, and digital money,” Mr Ali said.
“I would say that one of the unexpected positive externalities of the COVID-19 pandemic was the momentum it gave to our payment system reform.
“As movement became restricted and physical interactions were limited, the urgency to adopt more efficient, digital and contactless payment solutions accelerated significantly.
“This created an opportunity for us to drive reforms that might otherwise have taken years to gain traction.”
Supported by a strong legal mandate in the National Payment System Act of 2021 and its accompanying Regulations of 2022, along with technical support from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, RBF embarked on an ambitious investment to modernise the payments infrastructure, Mr Ali said.
“We revamped our RTGS in phases and introduced the all-new Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) for bulk payments and the Instant Funds Transfers (IFT) for retail payments. “Simultaneously, we invested in the Central Securities Depository, where Government debt securities are dematerialised by converting physical securities into electronic book-entry.
“We then integrated the mobile wallets with the banking platform and worked with all stakeholders to achieve greater interoperability.
“This initiative led to interoperability between Wallet-to-Banks, Banks-to-Wallet, and Wallet-to-Wallet in Fiji.”
As a result of this change, Mr Ali said a notable increase in internet banking took place.
“Both the value and volume have risen almost 10-fold since 2015.
“The growth has been more profound in the past five years.
“While mobile wallets have been in Fiji since 2010, person-to-person transfers have skyrocketed since 2020, and we estimate 50 million transactions totalling $3.0 billion this year.
“Similarly, payments via QR code, bank-to-wallet, and wallet-to-bank transfers have surged, while inward remittances via mobile networks now account for almost half of the $1.3 billion in annual inflows.”
He said QR Code was first introduced in 2019 “and the value of personal wallets to businesses using QR codes has increased fourfold from $86.2 million in 2021 to $444.4 million in 2024.”
“Similarly, the number of transactions increased nearly sixfold from 1.6 million in 2021 to 9.4 million in 2024,” Mr Ali said, with the RBF recently releasing the national QR code standards to support interoperability, security and convenience.
RBF’s next major project to consolidate the success of its digital payment system reform is the National Digital Identity project.
“Payment reforms move faster when countries have a trusted digital identity, tiered know-your-customer, and simple onboarding,” Mr Ali said.
“With strong government collaboration and 19 Ministries involved, the draft National ID Bill will be tabled in Parliament early next year.”
