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,…

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…

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.

An Inflection Point for Global Payments: Industry Perspectives in 2023 - June Update

Updated! The global payments ecosystem is at a critical juncture, with interoperability, interlinking, accessibility, and collaboration top of mind for 2023. We’re pleased to present the second annual Central Bank Payments News supplement, a collection…

An Inflection Point for Global Payments: Industry Perspectives in 2023

The global payments ecosystem is at a critical juncture, with interoperability, interlinking, accessibility, and collaboration top of mind for 2023. We’re pleased to present the second annual Central Bank Payments News supplement, a collection of updates…

SODA: Offline Digital Currency Technical Considerations

In this article, John Kiff provides a view of how offline digital currencies work based on publicly-available information provided in academic papers and vendor white papers.

JoPACC: Jordan Marks a Decade of Digital Financial Services Developments and Innovations

The past decade has been a game-changer for Jordan's financial ecosystem, especially in terms of digital financial services and financial technology. In the first half of the decade, the country saw major developments in digital infrastructure, legislative…