1st Athens Digital Payments Summit
Athens, Greece
30 September 2015
ITU-T Focus Group on Digital
Financial Services
Hiroshi Ota,
Study Group Advisor, ITU
Overview of ITU
ITU: UN Agency for ICTs
ITU : enabling communication since 1865
1865
2015
4
ITU: a unique Membership
193 Member States and regulatory bodies
750+ companies
90+
Universities and
Research
Establishments
Business
associations
International
organizations
NGOs
ITU’s 3 Sectors: Standards, Radiocommunications and
Development
ITU-T Standardization
ITU-D Development
ITU-R Radiocommunication
ITU-T
• The Study Groups of ITU-T assemble experts
from around the world to develop
international standards known as ITU-T
Recommendations
• Standards are critical to the interoperability of
ICTs and whether we exchange voice, video or
data messages
• Standards reduce costs
ITU-T’s strategic goals
 To develop interoperable, nondiscriminatory international standards
(ITU-T Recommendations)
 To assist in bridging the standardization
gap between developed and developing
countries
 To extend and facilitate international
cooperation among international,
regional and national standardization
bodies
Chaesub Lee
TSB Director
ITU-T Study Groups
SG2 Operational aspects
SG3 Economic and policy issues
SG5 Environment and climate change
SG9 Broadband cable and TV
SG11 Protocols and test specifications
SG12 Performance, QoS and QoE
SG13 Future networks & clould
SG15 Transport, access and home
SG16 Multimedia
SG17 Security
SG20 IoT and applications, smart cities New!
ITU-D
• To foster international cooperation and solidarity
in the delivery of technical assistance and in the
creation, development and improvement of
telecommunication/ICT equipment and networks
in developing countries
• To facilitate and enhance telecommunication/ICT
development by offering, organizing and
coordinating technical cooperation and assistance
activities
ITU-R
• Plays a vital role in the global management of the
radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits
– Limited natural resources which are increasingly in
demand from a large and growing number of services
• Its mission is to ensure the rational, equitable,
efficient and economical use of the radiofrequency spectrum by all radiocommunication
services
Digital Financial Services
Mobile Banking v/s Mobile Money
MOBILE BANKING
 Banking services delivered through a mobile phone. Need a bank
account.
Digital Financial Services
 The use of ICTs and non-bank retail channels to extend the delivery
of financial services to unbanked.
• Bank account not needed.
• Use of agents for cash in and cash out.
• Use mobile handsets and other digital means for transactions
Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion
1.6 billion have a
mobile phone
Source: FINDEX 2014
Stakeholder Alignment
Regulators
Consumers
?
Mobile
Money
Service
Providers
Successful Deployment
SERVICE PROVIDERS (commercial
viability):
 High volume of low margin
transactions
 For MNOs: increasing average
revenue per customer, reducing
customer churn
 For banks: expanding the customer
base to low and middle income
segments
REGULATORS :
 Mitigating systemic risk
 Protecting the consumer
 Promoting financial inclusion
Critical Success Factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interoperability
Technology impact on ecosystem
Regulatory Dialogue
Consumer Risks
Security Issues
User Friendliness
ITU-T Focus Group on Digital
Financial Services (FG DFS)
ITU-T Focus Groups (FG)
• Quick development of specifications in
chosen areas
• Addressing industry needs
• Participation is open
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ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (FG DFS)
• Duration: 2 years
• Open to all stakeholders
• 1st Meeting: Geneva, 5th December 2014.
• 97 participants, 25 countries
• 2nd Meeting: Washington DC, 21st April 2015.
• 78 participants, 23 countries
• 3rd Meeting: 30 Sept – 2 October 2015, Malaysia
• 4th Meeting:
• 15-17 December, ITU, Geneva
• 14 December: Workshop on Digital Financial Services and
Financial Inclusion
www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/dfs/
Stakeholders
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
International Organizations
Central Banks
Telecom Regulators
Mobile Money Operators
Payment Service Providers
DFS Platform Providers
Standards Development Bodies
Stakeholders
Better Than Cash
Alliance
ITU-T FG DFS
GOAL: Recommend a standardization roadmap for interoperable digital
financial services for financial inclusion.
Objectives
 Identify the technology trends in digital financial services
 Describe the ecosystem for digital financial services.
 Identify successful use cases for implementation of secure digital financial
services.
 Study the best practices related to policies, regulatory frameworks,
consumer and fraud protection, business models and ecosystems for digital
financial services.
 Suggest new work items for ITU-T Study Groups
ITU-T FG DFS
Four Working Groups Have Been Established to Lead
the Focus Group’s Efforts
Interoperability
DFS Ecosystem
Main areas
of work
Technology,
Innovation &
Competition
Consumer
Experience &
Protection
Working Group Tasks
•
DFS Ecosystem
–
–
–
–
–
•
Obtain, review and leverage existing documents on global digital financial service specifications,
standards, guidelines (including SG2 in TSAG-TD 158), etc. Some 65 documents related to DFS have
been reviewed
Describe definitions of terminology and taxonomy for digital financial services
Describe the ecosystem for digital financial services in developed and developing countries and the
respective roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in the ecosystem
Identify key elements of the ecosystem necessary for financial inclusion
Establish liaisons and relationships with other working groups; determine need for future ITU-T
actions
Interoperability
–
–
–
–
develop a working definition of interoperability for digital financial services,
undertake stocktaking of successful / unsuccessful initiatives for interoperability,
develop a descriptive paper (which will include amongst others; a definition of interoperability, use
cases, and discuss the layers and dimensions of interoperability identified by the working group) and
develop a toolkit for interoperability.
Working Group Tasks
• Technology, Innovation and Competition
– Six workstreams have been established
• Review of DFS Platforms
• Collect handset specifications in use in developing markets
• Collect handset types in use in developing markets
• Security for DFS
• Big data
• Competition Issues
• Consumer Experience and Protection
– Develop guidelines for consumer protection for DFS
– Develop guidelines for quality of service in DFS.
THANK YOU
www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/dfs/.