The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) says the country’s payment landscape continues on a growth path with both transaction volumes and values recorded in various payment streams increasing in the first quarter of this year.
The growth is driven by increased uptake of digital financial services as well as enhanced operational efficiency of the Malawi Interbank Transfer and Settlement System (Mitass), according to the latest National Payments Systems Report prepared by RBM.
The report indicates that the total number of transactions processed across various payment streams increased by 2.6 percent to 596.1 million from 581.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the value surging by 76.5 percent to K73 trillion from K41.4 trillion.
In an interview on Monday, information and communications technology expert Bram Fudzulani said robust growth of the country’s digital financial system is positively impacting the national payment system as people are adopting modern payment platforms such as mobile money.
He said: “Malawi’s digital financial services have experienced robust growth as confirmed by recent reports from the RBM.
“This positive trend underscores the increasing adoption of mobile money services, internet banking, paving the way for greater financial inclusion.”
On his part, PawaPay country manager Arthur Muyepa, whose firm is one of the country’s payment services providers, said the financial technology ecosystem is still at the development stage with some gaps in compatibility of systems despite progress being made.
“The sustained growth in digital payments, buoyed by the increased array of payment products and services, highlights continued progress,” he said.
