# PAGA Case: Better Than Cash Alliance

BUNA, or the Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization, is a cross-border payment system that supports Arab African countries.


### PAGA Case: Better Than Cash Alliance

BUNA, or the Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization, is a cross-border payment system that supports Arab African countries.


## Description

Buna enables financial institutions and central banks in the Arab region and beyond to send and receive cross-border payments throughout the day, in real-time and in all available Arab and International currencies, serving as a single-entry point to the region’s financial systems for global financial institutions, as well as a multi-currency and multi-instrument system for local ones. Buna introduces to the region a streamlined model to process cross-border payments, providing its participants and especially the commercial banks and other financial institutions with opportunities to expand their network in the region and beyond.


## Strategic Objectives

As a centralized cross-border and multi-currency payment system that acts as a bridge between the Arab region and the rest of the world, Buna aims to: Empower Arab economies Streamline Arab countries’ trade and relationships with major partners Facilitate financial inclusion and regional integration Promote cross-border payments and make them as efficient as domestic ones Promote the usage of regional currencies Strengthen compliance standardsBy enabling payments processing in local currencies as well as key international currencies in a safe, cost-effective, risk-controlled, and transparent environment, Buna’s system design and operational approach embeds, by construction, the main directions of the “G20 roadmap” to enhance cross-border payments. Buna strongly believes in the importance of joining forces and aligning visions to successfully implement the “G20 roadmap” and overcome the challenges of cross-border payments, and will continue increasing its collaboration with all relevant authorities and stakeholders from around the globe to achieve that. The roadmap’s goal to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive has been translated by Buna into the objective of “making cross-border payment as efficient as domestic payment”. As a result, Buna is bringing tangible responses to each of the 19 building blocks and all the 5 focus areas of the “G20 roadmap”.


### Participants

Full list of Buna Participants


### Territory

Africa and Arab countries


### Year of introduction

Buna is a cross-border and multi-currency payment system founded by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) in 2018. Buna was created in execution of the Council of Governors of the Arab Central Banks and Monetary Authorities decision, to mandate the AMF to establish a cross-border payment system that supports further economic and financial integration between Arab countries and expand trade and investment activities with the global trading partners.


## Impact

BUNA allows multiple use cases: business & trade, government, treasury, personal remittances, digital commerce, bill payments and collections, corporate disbursements, FX, and securities. Tangible benefitsSingle window: efficient access (1 agreement, 1 connection, 1 account, 1 RMA) Fit for any use case: payments can be for trade, personal remittance, or treasury purposes Real-time settlement for all participants, regardless geography Fees are flat regardless of value, whether transacting in thousands, millions, or billions Allows to complement, optimize or expand existing market reach with a growing network of banksFlexible billing on a monthly basis Funds are always delivered in full. All banks are direct participants to the system. Extended operating hours: ambitious plan to continuously extend hours to reach 24/7 availability No transaction limits with prefunded model, participants can transact in any value New opportunities: participation in multiple currencies paves the road to become an FX provider Sustained progress6 currencies (AED, EGP, SAR, JOD, USD, EUR) onboarded rapidly, with a mix of Arab and international currencies, representing 90% of the intra-Arab flows Consistent pace of onboarding, with more than 120 banks having already signed the participation agreementInteroperability: interlinking initiatives to process one leg of the payment in each platform, building bridges with major trade partners.Best practices and lessons learnedOnboarding documentationCompliance


## Public materials

Buna - Facts and FiguresBuna - Reference documents


## Submitter

Jean Pascal Mvondo Francophone Africa Lead, Better Than Cash Alliancejean.pascal.mvondo@uncdf.orgThe Better Than Cash Alliance participated as a member of the Advisory Board. This case study draws from information available on Buna's website.

DisclaimerThe information and examples presented herein are provided for informational purposes only and do not represent the official position or views of the World Economic Forum or the IDB Lab. The World Economic Forum and the IDB Lab do not endorse, recommend, or advocate for the implementation of any specific practices, policies, or approaches described. Rather, this content simply showcases examples and perspectives shared by members of our PAGA Community.