| Regulating Branchless Banking |
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'Branchless banking' - the use of mobile phones and other technology together with existing retail outlets to provide banking services - is already enabling millions of people to access financial services without accessing a traditional bank branch. This trend has truly transformational potential to increase the availability and reduce the cost of financial services for poor people. Policy and regulation will determine not only whether branchless banking is legally permitted, but also which business models are economically feasible and how far they will go in reaching poor people.
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| Country Notes on Regulating Branchless Banking |
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CGAP has partnered with DFID and the GSM Association to conduct diagnostic assessments of the policy and regulatory environment in seven countries where policy makers and regulators find themselves facing the question of how to approach regulating branchless banking targeted at the unbanked poor: Brazil, India, Kenya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia and South Africa. These notes offer country-level details on the CGAP branchless banking diagnostic assessments.
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| Branchless Banking in the News |
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15 November, 2007
A bank in every pocket?
Banking on mobile phones holds promise, provided regulators are willing to be flexible
12 October, 2007
Technology aids microcredit loans
The head of a World Bank affiliate says inexpensive new technologies such as cell phones and pre-paid calling cards are for the first time bringing microcredit loans within reach of the world's neediest people.
12 October, 2007
Unserved by Banks, poor Kenyans now just use a cellphone
With a click of a cellphone key, Bernard Otieno makes the transfer - sending funds instantly from his residence in a sprawling Nairobi slum to his wife, who holds down their rural family farm some 250 miles away.
23 July, 2007
Tamweelcom launches educational grant programme, 'marketing gateway'
Microfinance is in no way charity, rather it is a proven effective tool to assist low-income families move beyond hand-to-mouth survival and plan for the future.
30 June, 2007
Group Working on Plan for Cell Phone Banking
In developing nations, many people still do not have bank accounts -- but they do have cell phones.
June, 2007
More than 2,5 billion people lack a bank account
Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of CGAP, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, explains the variety and the role of the alternative financial services, which allow people to get access to regular banking services.
June, 2007
Microfinance: Future Success Hinges on Technology
New technologies offer a huge potential to promote the use of financial services. The effective use of technology allows to standardize processes and reduce the costs of operations.
May, 2007
Dialling Africa
Looking at the potential of mobile phones to take financial services to the continent's rural poor.
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Focus Note 43
Focus Note 43 Regulating Transformational Branchless Banking: Mobile Phones and Other Technology to Increase Access to Finance examines key issues that policy makers and regulators face when deciding how to regulate branchless banking targeting the unbanked poor. Based on diagnostic assessments conducted in seven frontline countries, the Focus Note offers practical recommendations on the proportionate regulation of this dynamic and promising phenomenon at the convergence of financial services and telecommunications.
Diagnostic Tools
How does CGAP approach a diagnostic assessment of the policy and regulatory environment for branchless banking targeting the unbanked poor? Our methodology is evolving as the phenomenon itself evolves. Building on work which began in 2006, in collaboration with DFID, our approach examines policy and regulation in more than a dozen separate regulatory domains.
Related Resources
Mobile Phone Banking and Low-Income Customers
DFID
CGAP Technology Blog
Focus Note 38
Use of Agents in Branchless Banking for the Poor: Rewards, Risks, and Regulation
Focus Note 32
Using Technology to Build Inclusive Financial Systems
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