virtualconferenceonelectronicbankingforthepoor.docVIP

Virtual Conference on Electronic Banking for the Poor Conference held 16-27 February 2004 Final Report Report prepared by: Charles Waterfield MFI Solutions, LLC waterfield@ Conference Sponsored by CGAP  Virtual Conference on Electronic Banking for the Poor General Summary Between 16th and 27th of February, 2004 MicroSave hosted and Charles Waterfield moderated a virtual conference on electronic banking for the poor. Electronic banking includes delivering financial services using palm pilots, ATMs, debit cards, point of sale devices and cell phones. Delivering financial services to the poor has long been dogged by high costs and poor quality of information. Technology offers the potential to dramatically decrease operational costs, improve the quality of financial information and make banking for the poor more profitable and less risky for mainstream financial institutions. Indications from users in Asia and Latin America are that palm pilots can reduce costs and increase the number of clients per loan officer. However, early attempts to develop more comprehensive e-banking solutions for low-income clients have been less successful for example, pilot tests for smart card banking in India were cancelled. South Africa is developing electronic banking solutions, which offer clients a wide choice of services. The challenge is that developing a successful e-banking initiative for poorer people entails managing of a host of inter-related issues, technology, pricing, financial literacy, functionality, partnerships, delivery channels, POS distribution, regulation etc. Over the course of two weeks, the following fourteen topics were deliberated. Which e-banking initiatives have been successful and why? What are the key constraints in developing successful e-banking products? What are the key advantages and disadvantages to different approaches to electronic banking fo