1. Saint Petersburg, Russia
Digital Financial Services & Financial Inclusion
Saint Petersburg, Russia
JUNE 2015

2. Executive Director
“Technological innovation is the most promising way to advance financial inclusion. Because it lowers the costs of serving low-income clients. It makes the provision of financial services viable to suppliers and affordable for users.”  
Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
MEXICO, JUNE 2014 

3. The Alliance for Financial Inclusion
125 Institutions
96 Countries
Peer learning platform
Shaping global discussions (G7, G20, SSBs)
Global and regional approach
Public Private Dialogue
6 Active Working Groups

4. Digital Financial Services Working Group PROGRESS AND KEY OUTCOMES
KEY OBJECTIVES 47
Countries
Stimulate discussion and learning
Exchange and promote regulatory practices
Capture, track and share information
Create enabling policy and regulatory environments
Encourage cross-industry partnerships
Conduct policy and statistical stocktaking 53
Institutions
PROGRESS AND KEY OUTCOMES
11 WG meetings
8 Guideline Notes: Terminology, Regulatory Reporting, Technology Risks, Indicators for Access and Usage, Supervision and Oversight, Consumer Protection, Cross Border Remittances, Interoperability
Draft regulations Peer Reviews: Bhutan, Tanzania, Malawi, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Ethiopia, Guinea, Yemen, Ghana
DFS related Field Visits: Guatemala, Tanzania and Malaysia
Collection of indicators for measuring access and usage of MFS (2014 and 2015)
AFI | Alliance for Financial Inclusion

5. Digital Financial Inclusion Trends
Mobile banking is one innovation with dramatic potential for expanding financial inclusion. Mobile phone diffusion often exceeds bank network distribution. Kenya’s mobile payment services, M-PESA, is a well-known example. It is operated through a private telecommunications provider and has nationwide coverage independent of traditional banks. Today, more than 75 percent of the Kenyan population has access to financial services—the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Similar schemes are also popular in Latin America, with M-PESA-style service in Paraguay and in Mexico, although here it operates through the formal banking sector.
Governments as well can harness the power of mobile banking, by disbursing transfer payments using formal bank accounts.
Source: GSMA State of the Industry 2014, MFS for the Unbanked

6. Digital Financial Inclusion Trends
1 ZB = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
Source: IDC
Increased importance of data to make informed policy decisions
Relentless evolution: Ebanking (ATMs, POS, Internet Banking) / Mbanking /Mobile Financial Services /Digital Financial Services…
AFI | Alliance for Financial Inclusion

7. Digital Financial Inclusion Trends
4.4ZB in 2013, 44 ZB in 2020, moure than doubling every 2 years
AFI | Alliance for Financial Inclusion

8. DFS: Challenges Enabling and sound regulatory framework
Attention to key relevant topics: E-Money Operator Regulations, remote account opening rules, sound outsourcing to third parties, digital signatures, agent regulations, convergence and interoperability
Coordination among different regulators
Public-Private coordination and collaboration
Proportionate AML/CFT – Tiered KYC Regulations

9. DFS: Challenges
Proportionality in practice, financial sector policy and regulations
Consumer protection, literacy and empowerment
Coordinated national strategies for expansion of digital financial diverse ecosystems
Encouragement of healthy competition
Environment permanently open and neutral for financial innovations (technological and institutional)
Proportionate AML/CFT – Tiered KYC Regulations

10. Ricardo A. Estrada Villalta,
Bringing
smart
policies
to life
Ricardo A. Estrada Villalta,
DFS Policy Manager