A delegation from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) recently visited the Visa Innovation Center. The visit came in line with the CBB’s drive toward digitization, positioning Bahrain at the forefront of payment innovation. The delegation was guided through Visa’s initiatives and experienced first-hand some of Visa’s innovative prototypes.

The CBB has taken the front seat in instigating a progressive payment infrastructure and continuously explores the realms of cutting-edge innovation.

The launch of the Mobile e-Wallet “Benefit Pay” in 2017 marked yet another milestone in Bahrain’s digital payments journey. The app, which was developed by the Benefit Company in its capacity as the country’s Payment Switch and Credit Bureau provides a wide range of services for both consumers and merchants supported by the QR Code scanning technology.

In 2015, the CBB in collaboration with the Benefit Company launched the Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS) which revolutionized the way frictionless payments are made. Through the EFTS network, all local banks and major billers are interconnected to enable near real-time fund transfer up to BD1,000 ($2,648) via the Fawri+ service. Additionally, users can opt for other services enabled by this network such as the deferred settlement fund transfer service, which allows users to transfer any amount of money (bank account to bank account) within just a few hours of the business day via the Fawri service or settle bills in an aggregated manner via the Fawateer service.

With several initiatives and projects planned to be rolled-out on a national level, the CBB jointly with other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders such as the Information and e-Government Authority and the Benefit Company, commenced work on introducing a national Electronic Know-Your-Customer (e-KYC) utility which employs the latest technology in order to streamline the customer onboarding process and the on-going updates of customer information undertaken by financial institutions in Bahrain.