The Instant Payments System MIA is available to all mobile banking users in the Republic of Moldova, both individuals and legal entities, who have a payment account with a bank/payment institution. The identifier necessary and sufficient to initiate a transfer will be a telephone number registered in the database of the bank or payment institution, IPN reports, with reference to the National Bank of Moldova that today presented the new system.
According to the central bank, a person can activate receiving and making instant payments from the settings available in the main menu of the preferred mobile banking app by going to Settings. Also here, the person can change or set up your basic account for transfers. The person can always activate the instant payments option in the app of another bank/payment institution where the person has payment accounts.
Transfers of up to MDL 10,000 per month are commission-free, while for larger amounts, the commission charged will not exceed MDL 5 per transfer.
At the first stage, two possibilities will be available: instant transfer and instant transfer request. Instant transfer (person to person - P2P): the person can transfer money directly from the payment account to another person’s account using only the recipient’s phone number. Transfer request (Request to Pay - RTP): the person can send payment requests to other people. These requests can be accepted or rejected by the recipients. The user will also have access to the transfer history, where they can manage all requests.
The person doesn’t need to open a card to make instant payments, and if they already have a card, the use of their data is not required. The transfer to an individual is made on the basis of their telephone number, and to a legal entity - on the basis of the IBAN code. The launch of Instant Payments will be accompanied by the implementation of an anti-fraud solution at the control level of the entire ecosystem. At the same time, banks/payment institutions will settle disputes at the interbank level by filing a claim following models already applied in the financial system.
The integration of the Instant Payments System with the payment platform MPAY, through which taxes are currently paid, is planned for the second part of 2024. The integration of the systems will allow instant payment of a range of taxes: real estate, road tax, traffic fines, etc. These types of payments will be called P2G (transfers related to payments to national public budget initiated by participants on behalf of individual customers).
The options that are activated with the launch of the system are P2P and RTP (money transfer and transfer request) for individuals. Next, during 2024, QR code payments, Link payments in online stores, Business to Business (B2B) transfers, Payments to Government (P2G), M2M transfers (transfer of funds between different payment accounts held by the same person within the same bank/payment institution or between different banks/payment institutions) will be launched.
The Instant Payments System MIA is a real-time money transfer method that allows you to send/receive money from/to your payment account directly from the mobile app, indicating only the other person's phone number. The money arrives within seconds of completing the transaction. According to the NBM, currently, most of the commercial banks and payment institutions in the Republic of Moldova offer the MIA instant payment service.
The U.S., UK, India, Australia, Canada, China and most EU countries have implemented or are in the process of implementing Instant Payment Systems.
