08-12-2009 Asian policymakers agree to harness technology to expand financial access Bank Negara Malaysia has organized a Microfinance Policymakers’ Forum, held in Kuala Lumpur on 2-3 December 2009. Policymakers from 17 Asian countries participated in the two-day workshop, which was supported by CGAP and AFI. The Forum focused on how financial inclusion can be scaled up through the use of branchless banking, which involves moving beyond conventional bank branches using information and communications technologies and non-bank retail agents. Key themes covered at the workshop include recent developments in institutional structures as well as regulatory and supervisory requirements to support the effective adoption and implementation for branchless banking. For more information, visit http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=8&pg=14&ac=1958. Experts share experiences on using the postal sector to expand financial access On 9- 10 November 2009, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) organized a two-day conference on financial inclusion and postal banking, supported by an AFI grant. The workshop, which was held in Bern, Switzerland, looked at how Posts could expand financial access to people living in remote areas of developing countries. With more than 650,000 post offices worldwide, many Posts, including those of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are already filling an important void in this area. At the Forum, experts from around the world shared their experiences and discussed how Posts could become agents for expanding financial access to the poor. To view videos and presentations from this workshop, visit the page “Postal Financial Inclusion – the missing billion accounts”: http://postfi.wordpress.com/afi-upu-conference. AFI Steering Committee Holds its Second Meeting in Nairobi The AFI Steering Committee held its second meeting right after the Global Policy Forum in Nairobi. At the meeting, the Steering Committee identified key factors to the success of the Forum, including the high caliber of the policymakers who attended, the quality of the content of the discussions, the use of innovative formats such as fishbowls, and the unique opportunities offered for networking and knowledge-exchange. Steering Committee members also made concrete suggestions for next year’s Forum and identified key follow-up activities. These include using the upcoming AFI web portal to share policy papers and practical case studies to be written by our members, using virtual fishbowls to continue the dialogue, and conducting member surveys to assess member needs and identify ongoing financial inclusion initiatives. Other key outcomes include:
Finally, it was agreed that the next meeting of the AFI Steering Committee will be held in January 2010. Kenyan and Latin American policymakers share experiences on agent banking Supported by AFI, a group of Kenyan policymakers have completed a study tour to Latin America, where they discussed "correspondent" or agent banking models with their counterparts in Brazil and Colombia. During the visit, a team from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the Kenyan Ministry of Finance and the Kenya Bankers’ Association met with policymakers and regulators, as well as commercial banks and agents to discuss regulatory frameworks for the implementation of agent banking. Some of the key lessons shared include the types of services that agents can provide, the selection and supervision of agents, and success factors and challenges. Field visits were also undertaken to provide first-hand experience on how agent banking works in practice. As part of a financial inclusion strategy, the Central Bank of Kenya is in the process of drafting new agent banking regulations, which will allow commercial banks to use third-party agents to as a delivery channel for financial services. The current legal framework restricts the use of agents by commercial banks. The lessons drawn from this study tour will offer valuable insights for CBK that will directly feed into the new agent banking regulations, to be implemented in January 2010. The Kenyan delegation also shared their experiences on regulating mobile banking, an area of current interest to both Brazilian and Colombian regulators. International workshop on increasing financial access through the postal sector Experts and policymakers from developing countries will meet to share experiences and identify key success factors in expanding financial access through the postal sector. At the workshop, which will be held in Bern, Switzerland in the second week of November 2009, Brazilian experts will share their success in transforming post offices into agents of commercial banks. Russia, China, and India will also share their approaches and challenges in delivering postal financial services, and recommendations will be made on how postal entities can be transformed into agents for expanding financial access for the poor. The meeting will be supported by AFI and organized by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the global governing body of postal services and a United Nations specialized agency with 191 member countries. AFI Welcomes Members from 69 Countries Organizations from 69 countries have now joined or agreed to join AFI, representing more than 70% of the world’s unbanked population. Da Afghanistan Bank is the latest organization to become an official AFI member.
AFI Membership Climbs to 64 Countries 64 countries have now joined or agreed to join AFI, representing nearly 70% of the world’s unbanked population. Tonga and Solomon Islands are the latest countries to agree to become AFI members. AFI's first Global Policy Forum in Nairobi brings together policymakers from 40 developing countries 100 policymakers from more than 40 developing
countries, in addition to around 70 strategic partners, met in Nairobi
14-16 September for the first-ever Global Policy Forum of the Alliance
for Financial Inclusion (AFI). A year after AFI was established, the
Forum, co-hosted with the Central Bank of Kenya, provided a platform for
central banks and other policymaking bodies in developing countries to
share knowledge and experiences in expanding access to financial
services. The Forum succeeded in its objectives of building a vibrant community of
policymakers who feel free and able to share their knowledge of policy
solutions that work, and of drawing on the collective knowledge of AFI
members and strategic partners, including researchers, donors and the
private sector, to create a practical roadmap for moving forward. More than 60 Countries Form New Global Alliance to Increase Access to Financial Services The Alliance for Financial Inclusion brings together central banks and other partners, representing nearly 70 percent of the world’s unbanked. The global network will develop and implement policies to reach millions across the developing world by expanding access to financial services. NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept. 14 -- Nearly 100 central bankers and other financial policymakers gathered here today for the official launch of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a coalition of countries from the developing world committed to making savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services available to millions of people living on less than $2 a day. Research has shown that better access to financial services can fuel economic growth by raising national income via increased savings and investments in poor households as well as in small and medium enterprises. This access also enhances financial stability by injecting formal savings into the system, diversifying the capital base, and providing stability during global downturns. Yet, an estimated 2.5 billion people – over half the world’s adult population – do not have access to savings accounts and other financial services. AFI’s global network will enable developing countries to share knowledge so they can more effectively develop and implement policies designed to expand access to financial services. While many of the smartest policies to expand financial access have come from developing countries – such as mobile phone money transfer services in Kenya and agent banking in Brazil – knowledge of these solutions is scattered in pockets around the globe. “The unique aspect of AFI is that it puts us members in the driver’s seat to identify and create solutions to increase the availability and choices of financial services in our own countries,” said Tarisa Watanagase, governor of the Bank of Thailand and AFI member. “Since we understand our countries’ circumstances better than outside organizations, AFI creates an exceptional forum for us to share policies that work and learn from other policymakers about solutions that work for them.” AFI members gathered in Nairobi this week for the Global Policy Forum, a three-day meeting marking the coalition’s first-annual conference. Conclusions drawn at the forum will inform financial sector reforms, which members can consider for implementation in their nations. The Right Honourable Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, will open the conference, followed by presentations by governors and high-ranking representatives from central banks around the world. AFI members have chosen to focus on six policy areas to increase financial inclusion for their respective countries: agent banking, diversification of financial products and providers, state bank reforms, financial identity, consumer protection and mobile phone banking. “In Kenya we have pioneered innovative solutions like M-Pesa, a system of money transfer via mobile phones, that other countries can borrow and learn from,” said Njuguna Ndung'u, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and AFI member. “In the same way we share a solution that has worked for us, we are looking to the AFI network to help introduce us to our next big idea, such as using agency models for financial service delivery.” Based in Bangkok, Thailand, AFI is managed on behalf of its members by the German development organization Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and supported with a $35 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “AFI’s peer-to-peer knowledge exchange model is playing a key role in amplifying policy solutions that work,” said Alfred Hannig, executive director of AFI. “The most realistic and successful solutions for including poor people in the formal financial system are being innovated among our members in developing countries.” This grant is part of the Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative, which is working with a wide range of public and private partners to harness technology and innovation to make safe places to save and other financial services accessible to poor people in the developing world. “The demand for financial services – especially savings – is enormous in the developing world,” said Bob Christen, director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “AFI will help foster the spread of new and innovative efforts to deliver these services to the doorsteps of the poor so they can manage life’s risks and take advantage of life’s opportunities.”Media contacts: Alliance for Financial Inclusion About AFI Quick links: Sub-Saharan policymakers meet to share knowledge on financial inclusion Senior policymakers and regulators from the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) region have met to share knowledge and experiences in financial inclusion policies. The workshop, which was organized by FinMark Trust and sponsored by AFI, took place in Johannesburg on 27 August 2009. Delegates learned from each other’s experiences by sharing country strategies and on-going initiatives to promote financial inclusion. Discussions were also held on obstacles to broaden access to financial services and on which institution should have overall responsibility for promoting financial inclusion. The workshop concluded with some reflections on what AFI can do to assist the participating institutions to meet their financial inclusion objectives. Website for the 2009 AFI Global Policy Forum launched Are you going to the AFI Global Policy Forum this September? We have put together a new page where you can view the agenda, get to know the venue, and find travel information and other details. Take a look! > Sub-Saharan knowledge-sharing Senior policymakers and regulators from eight sub-Saharan African countries, each undergoing significant policy reforms, will be sharing their knowledge and experiences of financial inclusion policies and products at a workshop in South Africa on 27 August 2009. Some of the “hot” issues that will be discussed include microinsurance, branchless banking/e-money, anti-money laundering (AML) and credit market regulation, and social security reform. The eight countries include Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. The workshop will be funded by AFI and organized by the not-for-profit organization FinMark Trust (FMT). AFI Steering Committee holds its first meeting The AFI Steering Committee held its first meeting in Bangkok on July 10. At the meeting, members expressed strong support for AFI’s long-term vision to become an independent organization run and owned by policymaking institutions in developing countries. They decided that the Committee should be called the “Steering Committee” and proposed a two-tier membership structure for the AFI network. The draft AFI by-laws were reviewed by the members and will be finalized at the second meeting of the Steering Committee. • Tarisa Wantanagase, Governor of Bank of Thailand,
30-06-2009 A new strategy for measuring financial access AFI is funding the development of a strategic plan for measuring and monitoring access to financial services in Mexico that could be applied in other countries. The proposal for the strategy, submitted by the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) in Mexico, involves analyzing existing information to establish a reliable baseline, defining necessary measures and assessing priorities against available resources. Information gaps will also be identified and filled, and a coherent analysis of trends assembled. Once the strategic plan has been developed, CNBV will collect, analyze and present information on a regular basis, preferably with annual monitoring reports. Countries wishing to promote financial inclusion need to develop an active strategy to monitor and measure financial access over time. This requires establishing an accurate baseline and subsequent monitoring of how the situation evolves in response to policy measures or changing economic conditions. As such data and monitoring are crucial for developing effective policies for increasing financial access, other countries could also learn from the Mexican approach and apply a similar methodology. CNBV is Mexico’s main financial regulatory agency and one of few financial authorities in the world to set up a special unit to promote financial inclusion. It proposes regulation that is conducive to developing new financial products and services, including regulations to promote the use of retailers as banking agents and a legal framework for providing mobile financial services.
Membership climbs to 62 countries Fiji, Samoa and Tuvalu are the latest countries to agree to join AFI, bringing the total number of member countries up to 62. Together the 62 countries account for nearly 70% of the world’s “unbanked”. Central bankers and other senior policy makers from the following countries have either become members of AFI or agreed to join:
AFI is “exactly what the doctor ordered” said Amar Bhattacharya, Director of the G24 Secretariat, at a meeting of more than 20 policymakers at the IMF/World Bank spring conference in Washington DC. The “closed door” event, which was hosted by the G24 Secretariat at the end of April, was designed to introduce central bankers and other senior policymakers from G24 countries to AFI and to identify ways that AFI’s members, who represent around 70% of the world’s “unbanked” population, could work together to accelerate greater financial access for the poor. “One of the reasons that the G24 is so keen to collaborate with AFI is that it puts policymakers in the driving seat,” said Amar Bhattacharya at the start of the meeting. “This is exactly what the doctor ordered. Having a network of policymakers in developing countries working together on financial inclusion and being able to learn from each other and through experimentation, as AFI offers its members, is great. “This is especially important for tackling financial inclusion since the solutions largely rest in developing countries. There’s a huge amount of innovation going on in these countries but it often doesn’t follow the typical textbook model so it has to be shared case-by-case and peer-to-peer to identify common learnings and to adapt them to countries’ individual circumstances. AFI provides a great and much-needed vehicle for doing this.” Dr Tarisa Watanagase, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, and Guillermo Babatz, President of Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission, who are both AFI Start-Up Committee members, also highlighted the fact that AFI’s independence gives members the freedom to devise the most appropriate solutions for their countries, based on best practice and evidence from around the globe. “We want the ingredients, not the recipes,” said Guillermo Babatz. “There isn’t a simple, single solution for every country.” Policymakers from a broad spectrum of countries, from Egypt, Ethiopia and Brazil to Pakistan, also contributed to the discussion.
The Russian Microfinance Centre (RMC) has become the first organisation to receive a grant from AFI. The knowledge-exchange grant was used to fund a visit by Russian policy makers to Brazil to learn about the country’s novel approach to agent banking. Currently, around 60 million people in Russia, equivalent to about 40% of the population, do not have access to sufficient financial services, largely due to inadequate financial structures in remote regions and a mismatch between service delivery technologies and the needs of specific groups. Branchless banking, including the use of non-bank retail agents, is part of the Russian Government’s strategy to overcome these hurdles. Supported by a $27,000 grant from AFI, a high-level delegation from Russia, including the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and seniors representatives from Russia’s banking and microfinance community, visited agent banking facilities in Brazil and discussed practical regulatory issues with leading authorities and government officials in the country, which has pioneered agent banking. Further information about AFI’s grants can be located in the Grants section of our website. Further information about The Russian Microfinance Centre (RMC) can be found on their website.
Global Policy Forum takes shape At AFI's first annual Global Policy Forum in Kenya in September 2009, policymakers will set the agenda and ask researchers, technical experts and other participants to help draw up a practical roadmap to increase financial access. Before the three-day event takes place on 14-16 September 2009, policymakers from AFI’s 45 member countries will ask participants to consider solutions to a range of obstacles that are standing in the way of greater financial inclusion, focusing on AFI’s six main policy areas. These ideas will be systematically developed at the conference and step-by-step plans and deliverables agreed to “bring smart policies to life”, from creating the regulatory framework to delivering the services on the ground. The Forum will also include “out of the box” side events dealing with issues such as knowledge sharing and marketing financial inclusion, as well as field visits to see and experience microfinance solutions in action in local villages. Further information about the Global Policy Forum will be released soon.
AFI Announcement Around 20 central bankers and other policymakers from developing countries attended an AFI announcement at the IMF in Washington DC on 24 April.
AFI membership More than 40 countries, representing over 70% of the world's "unbanked" population, have agreed to become membcers of AFI. More are expected to join soon.
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