Payment aspects of financial inclusion – Consultative report
Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures; World Bank Group
September 2015 :: 77 pages
Bank for International Settlements and World Bank Group 2015
ISBN 978-92-9197-216-6 (online)
.
Excerpt from Foreword
In recent years, a number of reports have been prepared by organisations on financial inclusion, a topic whose importance is increasingly being recognised. However, few of these reports have addressed what may be called the “payment aspects” of financial inclusion. In cases where the topics of payment systems and payment services have been raised in the context of financial inclusion, discussion has focused only on specific aspects of payments, such as mobile payments, rather than on the payment system in its entirety.

nderstanding payments in a holistic sense, including how individual elements relate to one other, is crucial to an understanding of financial inclusion and to promoting broader access to and usage of financial services.

This report provides an analysis of the payment aspects of financial inclusion, on the basis of which it sets out guiding principles designed to assist countries that seek to advance financial inclusion in their markets through payments. The report is being issued as a consultation document. Comments are invited from any interested parties, and should be sent to the CPMI (cpmi@bis.org) and the World Bank Group (paymentsystems@worldbank.org) by 7 December 2015; please mention “PAFI” in the subject line of your e-mail. A final version of the report will be published subsequently.

.
Press Release
New Report Examines Payment Aspects of Financial Inclusion
Date: September 9, 2015 Type: Press Release
The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the World Bank Group today issued a consultative report on Payment aspects of financial inclusion. The report examines demand and supply-side factors affecting financial inclusion in the context of payment systems and services, and suggests measures to address these issues.

Financial inclusion efforts – from a payment perspective – should aim at achieving a number of objectives. Ideally, all individuals and businesses should have access to and be able to use at least one transaction account operated by a regulated payment service provider, to: (i) perform most, if not all, of their payment needs; (ii) safely store some value; and (iii) serve as a gateway to other financial services.

Benoît Cœuré, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) and CPMI Chairman, says that, “With this report, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and the World Bank Group make an important contribution to improving financial inclusion. Financial inclusion efforts are beneficial not only for those that have no access to financial services, but also for the national payments infrastructure and, ultimately, the economy.”

Gloria M. Grandolini, Senior Director, Finance and Markets Global Practice of the World Bank Group, comments that, “This report will help us better understand how payment systems and services promote access to and effective usage of financial services. It provides an essential tool to meeting our ambitious goal of universal financial access for working-age adults by 2020.”

The report outlines seven guiding principles designed to assist countries that want to advance financial inclusion in their markets through payments:
(i) commitment from public and private sector organisations;
(ii) a robust legal and regulatory framework underpinning financial inclusion;
(iii) safe, efficient and widely reachable financial and ICT infrastructures;
(iv) transaction accounts and payment product offerings that effectively meet a broad range of transaction needs;
(v) availability of a broad network of access points and interoperable access channels;
(vi) effective financial literacy efforts; and
(vii).the leveraging of large-volume and recurrent payment streams, including remittances, to advance financial inclusion objectives.