{"id":3773,"date":"2026-09-17T16:14:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=3773"},"modified":"2026-09-17T16:14:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:14:57","slug":"digital-payments-offer-safer-alternative-to-carrying-cash-bnr-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/digital-payments-offer-safer-alternative-to-carrying-cash-bnr-says\/economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital payments offer safer alternative to carrying cash, BNR says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Digital payments can help people avoid the risks and inconvenience of carrying cash, while making it easier to transfer money and pay for goods and services, the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nsabimana G\u00e9rard, head of consumer protection at BNR, said the central bank is conducting awareness campaigns across the country to encourage people to use eKash and other cashless payment services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The systems allow users to make transactions without travelling to a bank or waiting in line at mobile money agents, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing notes and coins requires you to go and meet the person you are paying, which can mean making an unnecessary trip,\u201d Nsabimana said. \u201cIt also improves the security of money because no one can easily steal it when it is stored on your phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital transactions also provide a record that can help confirm whether a payment was made, unlike cash payments where disputes may arise over whether money was handed over, Nsabimana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the use of cash also means worn banknotes have to be withdrawn and replaced, creating the need to produce new notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNR is currently conducting public awareness activities in Huye District, where officials are explaining how people can use eKash and other cashless services in their daily transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign is aimed at helping residents understand how to use digital payment services for everyday payments and money transfers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nsabimana said one problem reported by some users is a delay in receiving confirmation messages after sending money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such cases, BNR helps users follow up with the financial institution involved to establish where the problem occurred, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People with limited digital skills are also being connected with Digital Ambassadors who help them learn how to use the services, working alongside local authorities to promote adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign will be extended to other parts of the country after activities in Huye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNR urged users to protect their personal identification numbers and other confidential details to reduce the risk of digital fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RNDPS\/eKash is a national digital payment system that connects commercial banks, mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, SACCOs and fintech companies, allowing customers to transfer money between different financial institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNR reported that 2.16 million people were using eKash in the 2024\/25 financial year, while the number of transactions increased from 8 million in June 2024 to 25 million in June 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital payments can help people avoid the risks and inconvenience of carrying cash, while making it easier to transfer money and pay for goods and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,3,53,4,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-economy","category-featured-stories","category-finance","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3775,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773\/revisions\/3775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}