ITU workshop to address needs of 2 billion ‘unbanked’ people

An ITU Workshop on Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion in Geneva, on 14th December, will analyse the latest developments in the market for digital financial services (DFS), or ‘mobile money’ to help address the needs of the 2 billion ‘unbanked’ people.

Topics for discussion will address consumer protection, with accompanying sessions exploring merchant payments, DFS market competition, and DFS interoperability.

The free-of-charge, open-to-all workshop will host representatives of the information and communication technology (ICT) and financial-services sectors to supplement the work of the ITU Focus Group on Digital Financial Services, which will meet at ITU, 15-16 December.

The Focus Group is developing a set of operational recommendations, tools and solutions to assist countries in establishing financial-inclusion strategies capable of promoting widespread adoption of DFS. The group’s upcoming meeting will advance key deliverables to improve the cooperation of ICT regulators and central banks, build greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders comprising the DFS ecosystem, and support DFS operators in their efforts to achieve service interoperability.

Among the key attendants will be ITU Member States, ICT regulators, financial services regulators, policymakers, mobile network operators, banks, financial service providers, mobile financial-services platform providers, international organizations, academia and non-governmental organizations.