CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) reports that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central banking authority, recently announced modifications to its branchless banking regulations that include: removal of the requirement to have one’s fingerprint scanned to open an account; increases in transaction limits and the elimination of the maximum balance; and introduction of “Level 0” accounts that can be opened electronically, without physical paperwork.
Search Results for: branchless
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Costs Decrease, Account Openings Increase via India’s Branchless Banking Model, Microfinance Institutions Remain Excluded
The National, an English-language newspaper owned by the Abu Dhabi government, recently reported that the branchless banking model in which local agents, or business correspondents, use handheld computers to offer banking services in areas of India with no traditional banking branches is “transforming lives”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Easypaisa, Branchless Banking Service of Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited, Telenor Pakistan Facilitates $9m in Remittances Over 10 Months
Easypaisa, a branchless banking service in Pakistan, has reportedly transacted PKR 800 million (USD 9.3 million) in international remittance services between August 2010 and May 2011.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Opportunities to Partner With Opportunity International Bank of Malawi on Branchless Banking
Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), a microenterprise resource center based in Washington, DC, has announced a partnership with Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM), a Malawian microfinance institution (MFI) affiliated with US-based microfinance network Opportunity International, to implement its branchless banking program in Africa. OIBM joins Moble Transactions in Zambia, Financial Information Networks and Operation (FINO) Fintech Foundation in India and Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) in the Philippines as partners in MFO’s program, “Consumer Education for Branchless Banking” (CEBB).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Technology Blog Analyzes Developments in Mexico’s Microfinance and Banking Sectors, Publishes Summary Note Covering Mexico’s Branchless Banking Industry
As part of a series on branchless banking around the world, a post was recently published on the CGAP Technology Blog, a website operated by US-based think tank CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), covering regulatory developments in the Mexican microfinance sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Technology Blog Reviews Lessons Learned from Branchless Banking in Brazil
The CGAP Technology Blog, operated by US-based think tank CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), recently posted an article by Kabir Kumar and Yanina Seltzer that reviews branchless banking in Brazil, whereby agents such as retailers and post offices serve as links between banks and customers. The article is the first of a planned series that examines the state of branchless banking in different countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Launches Online Branchless Banking Database
CGAP, an independent policy and research center that is housed at the office of the World Bank Group, recently executed a soft launch of the Branchless Banking Database, which offers information on branchless banking services in 168 countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), MasterCard Foundation Announce Branchless Banking Partnership with MTN Ghana, Mobile Transactions of Zambia
Recently, Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), a microenterprise resource center based in Washington, DC, and the MasterCard Foundation, a Canadian foundation with approximately USD 2.9 billion in assets, announced that they have chosen MTN Ghana Mobile Money and Mobile Transactions of Zambia to participate in their Consumer Education for Branchless Banking (CEBB) program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) and The MasterCard Foundation Announce Partnership with Financial Information Networks and Operation (FINO) of India and The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) for Branchless Banking Program
The MasterCard Foundation, a private foundation with approximately CAD 3 billion (the equivalent of USD 2.9 billion) in assets, and Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), a microenterprise resource center established in 2002, have selected two companies in Asia to participate in their Financial Education for Branchless Banking Program.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Regulation Will Permit Branchless Banking For Microfinance Institutions
In Kenya, existing regulations require financial institutions to build brick and mortar branches. Changes to these regulations will permit the establishment of branchless or agency banking.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Opportunities, MasterCard Foundation Launch Campaign to Encourage Enduser Adoption of Branchless Banking
The US-based nonprofit Microfinance Opportunities and Canada’s MasterCard Foundation recently announced the launch of a three-year effort to encourage the adoption of branchless banking services by low-income youth and women and by poor people in rural areas.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Scenarios for Branchless Banking in 2020, by Mark Pickens, David Porteous, and Sarah Rotman
Written by Mark Pickens, David Porteous, and Sarah Rotman, published by CGAP (Consultive Group to Assist the Poor) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) in November 2009, 28 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.40599/FN57.pdf
For this paper, CGAP (Consultive Group to Assist the Poor) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) consulted 200 experts from more than 30 countries to ask “How can government and private sector most affect the uptake and usage of branchless banking among the unserved majority by 2020?” To answer this, the study identifies four important forces that seem poised to effect branchless banking:
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ‘Bank of the Philippines Islands Globe Savings Bank’ (BanKo) Begins Microfinance Pilot Testing Using Mobile Money Technology (MMT) with Intention of Becoming a Branchless Bank
Bank of the Philippines Islands Globe Savings Bank (BanKo), a thrift bank that is expected to become a branchless microfinance bank in the Philippines, has begun pilot testing retail microlending, deposit-taking, and microinsurance using mobile money technology (MMT) [1]. The bank is owned by Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI), a private commercial bank in the Phillipines; Globe Telecommunications Inc., a telecommunications company based in the Philippines; and Ayala Corp., a holding company with a varied portfolio including BPI’s outstanding stock [1,2,3,4]. BanKo is expected to open its head office in January of 2010 and begin lending to borrowers from the BPI microfinance unit’s client base of 170,000 borrowers [1]. At this point, BanKo is also expected to offer wholesale microlending to clients such as microfinance institutions (MFIs) [1]. Additionally, BanKo will open “regional centers,” not to be confused with branches, in order to establish relationships with MFIs, rural banks, and non-bank financial institutions [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Branchless and Mobile Banking Could Become Top Microfinance Channel by 2020 Says CGAP Focus Note
Branchless and mobile banking could become the most common ways for poor people to get financial services by the year 2020 according to the recent “Scenarios for Branchless Banking in 2020” report from CGAP and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
NEWS WIRE: Kenya: Government Pushes Branchless Banking at Microfinance Conference
Source: Daily Nation.
NEWS WIRE: India: Reserve Bank Working Group Sees Major Role for Branchless “Business Correspondent” Model
Source: Financial Express.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: CGAP and WIZZIT Collaborate to Expand Mobile Technology Services to Provide Branchless Banking to Poor Citizens in Rural South Africa
CGAP has recently announced that they intend to collaborate with WIZZIT to expand mobile technology services to provide branchless banking to poor citizens in rural South Africa. CGAP insists that mobile services, for the first time, will link poor citizens in small towns and rural areas to banking services and local agents who manage cash.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Challenges to Regulation of Mobile Transaction Services, E-Money, and other Branchless Banking Technologies
In March 2007, when Kenyan cellphone service provider Safaricom launched its mobile payment service M-Pesa (‘M’ for mobile; ‘Pesa’ meaning money in Swahili), it predicted the service would attract 450 thousand customers by January 2008. The service caught on, and fast. When January 2008 rolled around, M-Pesa had more than doubled its goal, registering more than 1 million users in ten months. People began using M-Pesa credits to pay for everything from well water to cab fare. According to Wired magazine, almost a third of Kenya’s population now pays their electricity bills via mobile device. M-Pesa has now registered over 5 million users, and continues to register 10 thousand more each day. As discussed in this MicroCapital article, many banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs), such as Equity Bank in Kenya, have begun to adopt cellphone cash-transfer services as a way to minimize administrative costs and penetrate markets otherwise unreachable by traditional banking. Mobile transaction services, e-money, and other branchless banking technologies have also flourished in a number of developing nations beyond Kenya, most notably Brazil, India, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Russia, and Colombia. However, where the rapid growth of branchless banking has sparked the imagination of many, others’ optimism is shadowed by apprehension and concern that inadequate regulation in the nascent industry may place customers’ already vulnerable finances at risk.