The total value of transactions settled via the electronic fund transfer system (EFTS) has reached BD700 million ($1.84 billion) after a year from launch, the Central Bank of Bahrain announced yesterday (November 30).

Launched in collaboration with the BENEFIT Company, EFTS facilitates fund transfers within local banks through different electronic devices.

The EFTS allows retail bank customers to instantly transfer funds, throughout the day, from their bank accounts to recipients’ accounts in any other bank in just 30 seconds, through "Fawri+", up to a maximum total amount of BD1,000 ($2,633) per day.

This is in addition to the "Fawri" service, which allows fund transfers such as payment of salaries to a single or multiple recipients, within the same bank business day or future date. This is in addition to the introduction of “Fawateer” service which allows customers to pay their bills through an efficient and fast system.

Sheikh Salman Bin Isa Al Khalifa, executive director of Banking Operations of the Central Bank of Bahrain said: “The Central Bank policy aims to continue developing all fund transfer systems by introducing the latest technology in the payment and settlement systems field, as this has significant benefit to the local economy and will enable customers to carry out their banking transactions easily and efficiently.

“The Central Bank will continue cooperation with the banking sector and will adopt appropriate policies and legislations to introduce more of these advanced services in the coming period, including allowing companies specialising in financial payments techniques to operate in Bahrain.” – TradeArabia News Service