Generalizing immediate and deferred payment in banks and financial institutions – Algerian Dialogue

The Commissioner General of the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions, Rachid Belaid, revealed today, Monday in Algiers, that work is underway to generalize immediate and deferred payment among banks and financial institutions, in order to encourage merchants to adopt electronic payment.
Belaid explained during a presentation he made before the Finance and Budget Committee of the National People’s Assembly, in a session chaired by the head of the committee, Saad Baghija, that “there is a project in progress related to real-time payment, which allows the payment to arrive at the same time from the customer’s account to the merchant’s account.”

In this context, he pointed out that the Bank of Algeria held, today, Monday, a meeting of the Advance Banking Clearing Center, with the participation of banks and financial institutions “to finalize the operations of real-time payment, in preparation for its generalization,” noting that this type of payment will encourage merchants to adopt electronic payment.

In a related context, Mr. Belaid stated that by working with the Automated Cash Group and the Automated Cash and Automated Transactions Company between banks “Satem”, deferred payment cards will also be launched, which allow the customer to deduct all the payment transactions he makes at a fixed date (the end of the month at For example), pointing out that this is similar to a consumer loan, and that, according to him, it will encourage e-commerce.

Regarding the interoperability of mobile payment, which is the formula that allows transactions to be carried out using smartphones, the General Commissioner of the Association confirmed that the operation “will be practical in late May or the beginning of June 2024.”

For reference, mobile payment solutions in Algeria are currently only applied between customers of the same bank or financial institution, but with the launch of interoperability, transactions can be made even if the payer’s bank is different from the beneficiary’s bank, which will allow purchases to be paid via a QR code and making Transfers from one account to another.

In addition, contactless card payment will be circulated, according to Belaid, who indicated that banks and financial institutions are waiting to receive this type of card from the Algeria Post Corporation.

This method allows purchases to be paid quickly at merchants equipped with an electronic payment terminal without inserting the card into the electronic payment terminal and without forming a secret code, as it only requires bringing the card close to the terminal.

According to the spokesman, the electronic payment terminals include about 54 thousand devices, with more than 500 electronic merchants registered, while the number of electronic cards in circulation exceeded 16 million cards (Algeria Post and banks).

On the other hand, Mr. Belaid reviewed statistics related to the activity of banks and financial institutions, which he confirmed employ about 30,000 workers and have 1,800 banking agencies spread across various states.

Regarding investment financing, the spokesman pointed out that the association recorded, as of December 31, 2023, investment financing amounting to approximately 10 thousand billion dinars, including 460 billion dinars of financing within the framework of Islamic banking, “including large investment projects.”

In this context, the Chairman of the Islamic Banking Committee of the Association, Sufyan Mazari, pointed out in his intervention that statistics were taken from the launch of Islamic banking activity until December 31, 2023, about 800 banking agencies were opened that provide Islamic banking services, with 630 thousand accounts opened, with a size of deposits. More than 750 billion DZD.