CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA
Remarks by
PROF. NJUGUNA NDUNG’U
GOVERNOR
OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EAST AFRICAN
PAYMENTS SYSTEM (EAPS)
KICC, Nairobi, Kenya
Friday, 16th May 2014

Dr. Enos Bukuku, Deputy Secretary General, East African
Community;
Ms. Mwanamaka A. Mabruki, Principal Secretary, Ministry
of the East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism;
Fellow Governors:
Prof. Benno Ndulu, Governor, Bank of Tanzania;
Hon. John Rwangombwa, Governor, National Bank of
Rwanda;
Mr. Jean Ciza, Governor, Bank of the Republic of Burundi;
Dr. Louis Kasekende, Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda;
Distinguished Guests and Colleagues;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of my fellow Governors from the EAC Central Banks, it
is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the launch of the East
African Payments System (EAPS).
The EAPS, which went live on Monday 25th November 2013, is a
cross border payment initiative by the EAC Central Banks and the
EAC Secretariat, working closely with Commercial Banks in the
region. It is part of the East Africa’s payments modernization
efforts to enhance cross border payments system across the EAC
Region.

The System currently integrates with the respective Real Time
Gross Settlement (RTGS) Systems of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
that utilize the internationally recognized SWIFT messaging
network for safe and secure delivery of payment and settlement
messages.
It sends and receives cross border payments in the region’s
currencies that is Kenya Shilling (Ksh), Tanzania Shillings (Tzs)
and Uganda Shilling (Ugx) from any of the commercial banks in
the three East African Countries on a Real Time basis for the
region’s business community.
EAPS will therefore enable the public to pay as well as receive
payments on real time basis. As such, its implementation will
address deficiencies in the current cross-border payment methods,
through enhanced efficiency and risk controls.
All the commercial banks in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are
participants in the system. Commercial Banks in Rwanda and
Burundi are expected to join later in the Year.
With respect to regional trade, the System is expected to promote,
facilitate and support trade within the EAC Region. In this regard,
EAPS has many benefits, they include:
Real time transfer of funds across the EAC borders;
Transfer of large value payments in the region;

Enhanced safety through use of the SWIFT infrastructure;
Increased accessibility as it is available in all the
commercial banks;
Same day settlement;
Increased reliability through integration with RTGS; and,
Improved risk control mechanisms.
Transactions are carried out in any of the EAC local
currencies hence reducing (cost of transactions) and risk of
the transactions.
Since go-live, a volume of 1106 transactions have successfully
been processed through EAPS. The value processed in the three
EAC currencies is Ksh.1.6B, Ugx.9.9B and Tzs.2.5B. On average 10
EAPS transactions are processed per day.
All commercial banks open EAPS accounts with their respective
central banks. The central banks also open accounts in each
other’s central banks as they act as participants in their RTGS
systems representing the individual commercial banks in their
countries. Payments can be sent in EAC currencies. A commercial
bank ensures that all its accounts in these currencies have been
pre-funded before sending payments. For example, a customer
gives the commercial bank instructions, the message is sent to the
central bank of the originating country. The message is then sent
through SWIFT to the central bank of the country where the
payment is destined, at which point it is transformed and settled
in the respective commercial bank account through a cross border
module.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to thank the Central Bank
Governors, the EAC Secretariat and other colleagues in the Banks,
Commercial Banks and Bankers Associations in the respective
Partner States for working tirelessly in the last few years to make
the successful implementation of EAPS possible.
It is my hope that with the launch of EAPS, there will be an
uptake in its usage by Commercial Banks in executing their cross
border payments.
THANK YOU