# National Payment System law, Somalia

> Somalia's National Payment System law: the payment platform the Central Bank has run since 2021, what the 2025 bill does, its votes in both houses of Parliament, and the system's yearly figures.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/government/national-payment-system-law/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## What is the National Payment System?

The **National Payment System (NPS)** is the platform run by the [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/) that links banks so money can move between them. It has these parts ([Central Bank of Somalia, NPS](https://centralbank.gov.so/nps/)):

- **Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS):** large payments between banks, settled at once;
- **Automated Clearing House (ACH):** bulk payments such as salaries;
- **Instant Funds Transfer (IFT)**;
- **SOMQR:** a national QR code for paying for goods, taxes and fees, launched March 2023; and
- the **Somali Payment Switch** and the **Somali Instant Payment System (SIPS)**, launched January 2025, which link banks, mobile wallets and card terminals 24 hours a day.

The Central Bank dates the NPS launch to July 2021 (same source). Bloomberg, republished by Al Jazeera, reported the launch on 10 August 2021 and quoted Governor Abdirahman M. Abdullahi: "The impact on the economy will be unprecedented" ([Al Jazeera, 10 August 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/8/10/somalia-sets-up-national-payments-system-as-it-rebuilds-country)).

For the wider idea of one shared payment network, see [One national payment system](/en/forces/one-national-payment-system/). For phone payments, see [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/).

## What does the law do?

The system ran for four years without its own law. The Central Bank listed a draft National Payment System bill among its commitments, alongside a revised Financial Institutions Law and an Insurance Law ([CBS Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)).

The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Finance, gives the Central Bank clear legal power to supervise financial transactions, payment service providers and digital platforms ([Dawan, November 2025](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-approves-national-payment-system-law)).

## How did it pass Parliament?

| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | House of the People passes the bill, 154 for and 2 against | [Dawan](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somali-parliament-approves-national-payment-system-law) |
| December 2025 | Upper House finance committee consults banks and the Central Bank, and amends the text | [Radio Dalsan](https://radiodalsan.com/news/298987/senate-finance-committee-consults-banks-and-central-bank-on-national-payment-system-law) |
| January 2026 | Upper House completes the third reading, 28 for and 0 against, under Speaker Abdi Hashi Abdullahi | [Goobjoog, 12 January 2026](https://en.goobjoog.com/upper-house-passes-national-payment-system-bill-warns-of-deepening-drought) |

The sources found for this page do not report the date the President signed the law.

## How much money goes through it?

Figures from the Central Bank ([CBS Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf), Table 12):

| Year | RTGS (US$ million) | ACH (US$ million) | Total (US$ million) | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1,059 | 367 | 1,426 | 922,904 |
| 2023 | 1,298 | 410 | 1,709 | 1,062,103 |
| 2024 | 1,421 | 518 | 1,939 | 1,277,216 |
| 2025 | 1,850 | 572 | 2,422 | 1,409,151 |

In 2025 the number of transactions rose 10 percent and their value 25 percent over 2024. RTGS carried about 76 percent of the value (same source).

## Related pages

- [Central Bank of Somalia](/en/economy/central-bank-of-somalia/)
- [Banks](/en/economy/banks/)
- [Mobile money](/en/economy/mobile-money/)

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