The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) was forced to apologise yesterday on behalf of Libya’s commercial banks after the sudden disruption to electronic payment services. The CBL confirm that services have been restored to normal. However, there were still further reports of the card payment system not working with some banks.
Explaining the cause of the breakdown the CBL said two million purchase transactions were recorded through points of sale in a single day across 67,000 points of sale – a number that is deemed a record for Libya’s nascent e-payments system
The CBL said this ‘‘significant pressure on electronic payment services caused disruptions at some commercial banks’’.
More investment needed in the e-payment infrastructure
Commentators noted, however, that while the CBL has been racing away to increase the use of e-payments at a breakneck speed, it has not ensured that parallel investment is made into the backbone infrastructure of the e-payment system. They said the system needs further stress testing to provide long-term resilience.
Nevertheless, the CBL commended the efforts of banking sector employees in distributing local and foreign currency to citizens despite the challenges and difficulties. It reported that:
– The total amount deposited into citizens’ accounts during May reached approximately 20 billion dinars.
– April and May salaries deposited into citizens’ accounts during May amounted to 13.2 billion dinars.
– Spousal and child allowances reached 1.7 billion dinars during May.
– The banking sector continued distributing liquidity despite the significant pressure on banks.
