The Qatar Central Bank launched the Fawran real-time instant payment system on 7 March 2024, delivering a domestic infrastructure that enables customers and businesses across Qatar to initiate and receive fund transfers on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis.
Fawran, a name that means instant or immediate in Arabic, is designed to operate across the full range of banks participating in Qatar's domestic financial system, ensuring that customers at any participating institution can send and receive payments in real time regardless of which bank holds their account. The Qatar Central Bank positioned the launch as a central component of its broader financial sector development agenda, which includes efforts to improve payment efficiency, reduce reliance on cash, expand financial inclusion, and enhance the digital service capabilities available to residents and businesses throughout the country.
ROUND-THE-CLOCK OPERATION
Real-time processing allows transactions to be initiated, processed, and confirmed within seconds.
Comparable systems operate in markets including the United Kingdom, India, and several other major economies, and several Gulf Cooperation Council states already operate similar platforms, including Saudi Arabia's sarie and the UAE's Aani.