Wednesday, January 30, 2008

"Could A Mobile Phone Replace A Bank Branch?" discussed on Thursday February 7, 2008 at 4:00 PM

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Invite you to the release of a new CGAP Focus Note

Could A Mobile Phone Replace A Bank Branch?

Join us for the release of a new CGAP Focus Note, which addresses
the policy implications of branchless banking. Regulating
Transformational Branchless Banking: Mobile Phones and Other
Technology to Increase Access to Finance is based on assessments of
policy and regulation in seven key countries, including interviews
with hundreds of people from governments, the private sector, and
international organizations in Brazil, India, Kenya, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Russia and South Africa. Basic, everyday financial
services are out of reach for more than two billion people in
developing countries. But the rapid growth of branchless banking -
including mobile phone banking - is reducing the cost and expanding
the availability of such services.

While much of the current buzz is around mobile phones, other
branchless banking applications are gaining traction as well.
Brazil?s increase in access to finance has been accomplished largely
through the more than 95,000 banking "correspondents" - local
merchants and post offices that act as agents for banks, equipped
with card-swipe and barcode-reading point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
In Russia, a broad network of bank ATMs, POS terminals, and online
e-money providers offer transaction services outside of traditional
branch offices.

Thursday, February 7 2008
4:00 - 6:00 pm
World Bank J Building, Auditorium J1-050

Note: This button will also add the event to your Lotus Notes
calendar
A reception will follow the presentation
Chaired by
Elizabeth Littlefield
CEO of CGAP and Director, World Bank

Discussed by
Gautam Ivatury
Manager, Technology Program

Tim Lyman
Senior Policy Adivsor

Mark Pickens
Microfinance Analyst

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About CGAP
CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is a consortium of
33 bilateral and multilateral development agencies and private
foundations committed to building financial systems that work for
the poor in developing countries. Headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
and housed at the World Bank, CGAP is a global resource center for
the microfinance industry, setting standards, offering technical and
advisory services, training, and information on best practices, in
addition to providing funding for innovative projects. CGAP's
Technology Program, co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, seeks technology approaches that help provide a variety
of financial services to poor and excluded people, at large scale
and in a viable way, within a regulatory system that encourages
their development. For more information, please visit

http://www.cgap.org/technology.

About DFID
DFID, the Department for International Development, leads the
British Government?s fight against world poverty. DFID supports
long-term programs to help eliminate the underlying causes of
poverty. DFID also responds to emergencies, both natural and
man-made. Its work forms part of the global goal to attain the eight
?Millennium Development Goals? by 2015. DFID works directly in over
150 countries worldwide, with a budget of some £5.9 billion in 2006.
For more information, please visit http://www.dfid.gov.uk.

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