PAPSS Achieves ISO 27701 Certification, Demonstrates Commitment to Stakeholders’ Data Security, Privacy

The Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS) yesterday announced its certification of ISO27701:2019, an international standard for Privacy Information Management System.

This, it stated came just four months after it achieved ISO 27001 certification, demonstrating PAPSS’ ongoing commitment to ensure stakeholders data collected and received for transaction processing are managed, shared and disposed in compliance with data security and privacy global best practices.

According to a statement, the achievement also provided assurance that processing of personal data at PAPSS was being done in compliance with applicable data privacy laws.

ISO/IEC 27701:2019 is a privacy extension to ISO27001 with the design goal to enhance the existing Information Security Management System (ISMS) with additional requirements in order to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve a Privacy Information Management System (PIMS).

The standard outlines a framework for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Controllers and Processors to manage privacy controls that will minimize to acceptable levels risks associated with privacy and privacy rights.

CEO of PAPSS, Mike Ogbalu III, said: “Earning the ISO 27701 certification reflects our ongoing commitment to the security and privacy of our stakeholders data in the current context of evolving cyber threats and global data privacy obligations, such as GDPR, especially in this business of cross border payment  where a transaction is initiated in one jurisdiction and terminates in a different jurisdiction.

“This certification provides a level of assurance to all stakeholders that information used to complete a transaction in different jurisdictions is processed and maintained securely and within applicable laws.”

PAPSS is a centralised Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions.

It works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks and licensed payment service providers across the region can connect as ‘participants’.

Afreximbank and the African Union had endorsed the PAPSS at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

Further, in its 13th extraordinary session, held on the December 5, 2020, the assembly of African Union had recommitted and instructed the Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalise among others, work on the PAPSS. The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU, further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent. PAPSS was officially launched on the January 13, 2021 in Accra, Ghana Republic.