(Seychelles News Agency) - The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) said on Friday that the online banking platform linked to the Seychelles Electronic Fund Transfer (SEFT) system may experience interruptions this weekend following an upgrade.  

The upgrade of the SEFT will cause a temporary disruption of domestic transfer services as from Friday at 6 pm to Sunday. The interruption will not apply to international transfers. The system will be back online on Monday.

SEFT is an online communication platform currently being used by all banks to effect transfers on behalf of clients. The upgrade to the system is in line with the Central Bank’s objective of continuously modernising the country’s payment systems and services.

Senior banking officer Patricia Padayachy said the upgrades will be in different phases.

“Starting from Monday, only the banks will have access to the system,” she said.

This will give the banking staff a reasonable amount of time to get used to the system. The banks will also benefit from additional features such as better reporting so that better analysis on payments being effected can be made, as well as better reconciliation process which makes it easier for them to balance their books.

“It will also be easier to make a lot of transactions at the same time such as the processing of salaries through an improvement in the bulk upload facility,” Padayachy added.

As part of the upgrade, the commercial banks and the Seychelles Credit Union have integrated their core banking systems with the SEFT in order to allow for straight processing of transactions without manual intervention.

Customers will thus have quicker access to their funds and can receive instant notification via e-mail or mobile SMS messages.

As of May this year customers will have access to the platform in the comfort of their own home, without the need of a debit or credit card.

“Transactions such as transfers and the paying of bills can be done online,” said Padayachy.

Another main feature that has been added is an online payment facility where businesses with websites can link up to the system.

The system will also have a mobile app where transactions can be viewed.