The workshop is hosting speakers from the central bank of Tunisia and UnionPay
More than 200 senior officials will attend the workshop, representing central banks and a wide spectrum of regional and global financial institutions
Abu Dhabi, 17 February 2022: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday, February 17, 2022, a workshop to elaborate on the recent developments related to Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF).
At the occasion of this workshop, Buna will announce the pricing of its cross-border new instant payment services (IPS) in response to the demand of its users for an approach tailored for low to mid-value payments and incentivizing the usage of instant payment at cross-border level.
The workshop will also showcase the progress of the Buna network in terms of participants and global partners. It will elaborate on the benefits and the value for the central banks to join Buna as participants, with central bank of Tunisia sharing its views on the matter, and it will additionally allow UnionPay to detail the components of its cooperation with Buna to introduce joint payment solutions that create interoperability between both payment systems.
At the same occasion, Buna’s senior risk officer will explain the importance of risk management for financial market infrastructures and present Buna’s approach to risk management as a payment system designed in accordance with the global principles for financial market infrastructures.
The workshop will host more than 200 senior officials representing central banks, along with various institutions from the financial, banking, and payment sectors in the region and beyond, seeking valuable information on Buna’s recent plans and developments.
At this occasion, Mehdi Manaa, Chief Executive Officer of Buna said: “Our pricing for the cross-border instant payment service complements the benefits of the various use cases that our services support and which include personal remittances, digital commerce, bill payments, and corporate disbursements. It puts additional emphasis on the value proposition that Buna brings to the financial community in the Arab region and beyond.
Mehdi added: “Buna is pleased to welcome the central bank of Tunisia in its network, to be the second Arab central bank that joins Buna as a participant after the central bank of Iraq. This proves that our payment system is catering for the eminent and strategic needs of both commercial and central banks, by offering cost-efficient and safe cross-border payment aligned with the highest standards of compliance.
Moreover, Buna’s partnership with UnionPay is another important step in our plans to collaborate with global players in the payment industry for establishing efficient and safe rails for cross-border payments and serve a wide and diversified group of participants from the Arab region and beyond.”
Buna, is a cross-border payment system owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, aiming to enable financial institutions and central banks in the Arab region and beyond to send and receive payments in local currencies as well as key international currencies in a safe, cost-effective, risk-controlled, and transparent environment. Buna offers participants modern payment solutions that comply with international standards, principles, and compliance requirements. Thanks to its cross-border payment system Buna contributes to exploring and strengthening opportunities for economic and financial integration in the Arab region and supporting investment ties with the global trading partners. Buna welcomes the inclusion of all banks that meet the criteria and conditions for participation, primarily the standards and procedures of compliance aspects.