Towards Digitalising Payment Systems for Financial Inclusion in South Africa

South Africa is considered by many to be a dual economy where a large percentage of the population live in poor conditions in rural areas, and another significantly large percentage are wealthy and live in urban areas. Many of the people that live in…

In Conversation with Igor Velickovski, Manager, Payment Systems Department, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia

Our tour of the Western Balkans continues this month as we catch up with the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia’s Igor Velickovski, who discusses the transformative role of a recently enacted law on payments, North Macedonia’s SEPA ambitions,…

Crunchfish: Enabling Offline Payments in an Online World — Practical Guides to Offline Payment

Despite all the recent attention on the topic of offline payments, there remains an unclear understanding in the market around the practical design choices and trade-offs for offline real-time payments and CBDCs. Crunchfish, a pioneer for offline payments,…

Central Bank of Paraguay: Instant Payments in Paraguay

On May 23, 2022, the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) implemented the first phase of the Paraguayan Instant Payment System (SPI). This first phase consisted of implementing electronic fund transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24x7). For end customers,…

Madagascar: Financial Inclusion of Vulnerable Populations in Rural Areas Through Savings Groups

Various projects aimed at promoting the financial inclusion of vulnerable populations have developed savings group models. A savings group consists of 15 to 25 people who choose to form the group together and set aside money which they will then use for…

RTGS.global: Three Years On, Is the G20 Roadmap for Cross-border Payments Set to Usher in a New Spirit of Public-Private Collaboration?

It will likely be private sector innovation that provides the key to unlocking faster, safer, more efficient, and less expensive cross-border payments. The private sector is well placed to advise on and illustrate the practicalities of how to improve…

World Bank: Fast Payments and the Role of Central Banks

Fast payments are an important layer in digital public infrastructures — i.e., foundational systems back boning the provision of essential functions and services in a modern society — with the potential to drive economic growth and sustainable development.

World Bank: A Decade of Mobile Money Growth Reveals Potential for Digital Financial Inclusion in the WAEMU

Mobile money continues to grow rapidly, bringing a suite of financial products to the fingertips of hundreds of millions of users and disrupting traditional financial services. From Dakar to Nairobi, Cairo to Cape Town the mobile money wallet is serving…

AfricaNenda: Eyeing the Bigger Picture: How Digital Innovation Can Help Leave No One Behind

In Africa, the development of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS) and the use of open-source software like Mojaloop offer hopes of speeding up the onboarding of more than 350 million financially excluded adults on the continent.

Arab Monetary Fund: Reflections on the Future of Payments

I see five macrotrends, driven by a combination of consumer preference, technology, and regulation, that will affect the future of payments and define how payments will look in the next couple of years.