IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is hosting today a regional conference to promote digital financial services, including e-money, Internet and mobile banking in Central Asia. The event is part of a larger World Bank Group effort to help people and small businesses access financial services, which is key to combating poverty and driving economic growth.
The event, titled Electronic and Digital Financial Services: A Joint Path to Success, will bring together over 130 executives from regional financial institutions, technology companies and financial technology firms. It will provide a platform to discuss innovations, challenges, and opportunities in the digital finance industry. Across Central Asia, many people and small businesses are currently shut out of the formal financial system because they are often far from financial institutions which are concentrated in urban centers. Digital financial services are key to helping them pay bills, open savings accounts, and secure loans.
“IFC supports the development of innovative and sustainable financial services,” said Rolf Behrndt, Practice Manager with the World Bank Group’s Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice. “With mobile technology and new business models for the distribution of financial services, large numbers of low-income people, micro-entrepreneurs, small-scale businesses, and rural residents can gain access to crucial financial services. Over the long term, this will help create jobs, reduce poverty and drive economic growth.”
The demand for digital services is expected to rise in the coming years. As the costs of smartphones fall, 60 percent of people in developing countries are expected to access the internet over their mobiles by 2020, up from 44 percent in 2015. The conference will focus on how financial institutions can leverage digital services to expand their customer base and how countries can support financial inclusion by encouraging the development of digital financial services.
