by Business Reporter

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it will soon roll-out a Cyber Security framework to guide the market, given the rise in digital financial services’ threats confronted by the local financial sector.

The Central Bank has since noted that digital financial services have advanced significantly in the past few years with new initiatives displacing traditional ways of financial services, in the process posing cybersecurity threats cutting across jurisdictions.

“There is need for all financial and payments services stakeholders to keep abreast of cybersecurity threats and proactively formulate mitigates to ensure the financial system is safe and secure.

“To this end, the Bank will soon issue a Cyber Security Framework to further guide the market,” said RBZ Governor, John Mangudya.

The latest National Risk Assessment 2020 Report highlighted that fraudsters were targeting financial institutions largely leveraging on the digital financial landscape.

Given the high cyber threats to the financial services ecosystem, in particular, cross border payments, the RBZ also urged market players to effectively implement the SWIFT Customer Security Program (CSP).

CSP aims to reinforce the security of the entire SWIFT ecosystem by improving the local environment security of each individual user.

“The same should be customised to the other payment channels to ensure coordinated and enhanced security standards,” urged Mangudya.

The RBZ also encouraged the participation of local banks on the SADC RTGS regional payment and settlement system that was developed to facilitate funds transfers across borders in the SADC region.