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Cracking the Code, Digital Payments Get a Dose of Sanity

Nov 7 , 2024

Consumers will be able to make digital payments to merchants using any participating bank or payment provider, regardless of which entity generated the QR code, beginning in December 1, 2024.

Regulators at the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) have mandated the adoption of a standardised digital payment QR code for all payment service providers, unifying the fragmented landscape of proprietary QR codes currently in use. NBE wants to see secure, interoperable, and consistent QR code transactions across the country. Earlier this year, it released the Interoperable QR Code Standard, detailing specifications for QR code generation, placement, and transaction flows. This standard is based on EMVCo specifications, a global technical framework that facilitates worldwide interoperability and acceptance of secure payment transactions. The EMVCo standards incorporated into the new system are designed to protect against fraud, addressing security gaps that might exist in closed-loop systems.

The national payment switch, EthSwitch, will operate the underlying infrastructure needed for QR code interoperability.

Allowing richer transaction data, including details such as merchant name, city, transaction amount, and purpose of the transaction, thr standardised QR codes are upgrades from existing closed-loop systems like TeleBirr, which rely on simple identifiers like merchant numbers and limit the information conveyed in the QR code.

The enhanced data capabilities are expected to improve transparency, facilitate reconciliation, and enable more sophisticated payment use cases.

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