TIPS (Tanzania Instant Payment System)A rare case of a central bank operating the instant rail itself and making participation MANDATORY for every transaction between providers. The result: full interoperability between banks and e-money issuers (EMIs), and 84% year-over-year growth in value. A reference model for African regulators.Bank of Tanzania (central bank, direct operator) · since 2022651 million transactions worth TZS 54.95 trillion in 2025, up from 453 million and TZS 29.82 trillion in 2024 (Bank of Tanzania, National Payment Systems Annual Report 2025). 45 connected providers at the end of 2024; about 1.5 million transactions a day, with capacity sized for three times that.
Global registry · Africa & Middle East · East Africa
Tanzania Payment systems
6 systems listed.
This country doesn’t have a written market analysis yet: e-commerce shares, regulator, and key players are still to be documented. The systems below, however, are verified.
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Payments in East AfricaPayments in Portuguese-speaking and southern AfricaMobile money in AfricaPayments in West and Southern AfricaPayments in the CEMAC zonePayments in the Gulf and the Middle EastAccepting payments in AfricaAccepting payments in Egypt and the MaghrebAccepting payments in the GulfCollecting payments in Kenya and East AfricaCollecting payments in Nigeria and West AfricaPayments in Africa: the continent that reinvented mobile money
Instant payments
Interoperable QR
TANQRNational QR standard running on TIPS: a single merchant QR code accepted by every bank and every wallet. It is the success story that Ghana’s GhQR is not: mandatory TIPS membership pulled the QR along with it.Bank of Tanzania · since 2022Six e-money issuers integrated: Airtel Money, AzamPesa, Mixx by Yas, TTCL Pesa, HaloPesa (Viettel), and M-Pesa (Bank of Tanzania, 2025 report).
Acquiring and processing
UmojaSwitchCooperative switch that pools ATMs, mobile banking, and agency banking for Tanzanian banks too small to build their own. A model rarely documented outside the country, and separate from the central bank rails (TISS, TIPS), which it does not replace.UmojaSwitch Co. Ltd (Platform shared by Tanzanian banks and financial institutions with the common goal of offering affordable electronic payments.) · since 2006More than 260 ATMs deployed in Tanzania and Zanzibar, accepting Visa and UnionPay cards (UmojaSwitch, official website, 2026).
DPO Pay (formerly DPO Group / Direct Pay Online)Online acceptance provider operating in East and Southern Africa, now under the Network International brand. The original entry flagged the ownership chain (Network International, then Brookfield) for due diligence: only ownership by Network International is confirmed by a primary source; the move under Brookfield’s control is not confirmed here.Network International (the service now trades as “DPO Pay by Network”; the DPO acquisition was part of Network International’s 2016–2021 regional expansion phase, and its Africa headquarters is in Nairobi.)Claimed presence in more than 20 countries, with a country selector covering 11 markets (dpogroup.com, accessed August 2026)
Cross-border rails
EAPS (East African Payment System)The East African Community's high-value cross-border rail, in local currencies, open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EAT, Monday through Friday. It complements the retail rails (TIPS, PesaLink) rather than competing with them. Burundi is not a participant, despite what presentations listing all five EAC central banks suggest.Link between the national RTGS systems of the East African Community; Kenyan access runs through KEPSS, run by the Central Bank of Kenya, and the Bank of Tanzania lists it among its clearing and settlement systems.Four participating countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (Central Bank of Kenya, National Payments System page, 2026).
Other
TISS (Tanzania Interbank Settlement System)Tanzania’s RTGS: urgent interbank transfers but, above all, settlement of net obligations from check and EFT clearing, card switches, and the money market. This is where TIPS and TANQR get their central bank money. It still runs on SWIFT MT messages. The Tanzania Revenue Authority participates indirectly for public revenue collection.Bank of Tanzania33 participating banks and financial institutions; the beneficiary's bank must credit the account within two hours of the instruction (Bank of Tanzania).