ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services Interoperability ISBN
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Financial inclusion International Telecommunication ITU-T Focus Group Union Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 Digital Financial Services Switzerland Interoperability IS 7-2-1-201-5 9 7 8 9 2 6 1 2 3 9 0 1 5 Printed in Switzerland Geneva, 2017 Photo credits: Shutterstock ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services Interoperability ISBN 978-92-61-23891-9 (paper version) 978-92-61-23901-5 (electronic version) 978-92-61-23911-4 (EPUB version) 978-92-61-23921-3 (Mobi version) Please consider the environment before printing this report. © ITU 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU. Foreword An estimated 2 billion adults are still without access to a bank account, but some 1.6 billion of them have access to a mobile phone. ‘Mobile money services’ show great promise to expand financial inclusion by bringing basic financial services to people that remain on the margins of society. In 2014, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joined ITU to establish an ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (DFS). The financial-services and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors are converging, and the aim of the Focus Group was to bring all the key players together to build a common understanding of the route to broader financial inclusion. The Focus Group was successful to an extent that exceeded expectations. After two years of extensive consultation, the Focus Group concluded its work in early 2017 with the publication of 85 policy recommendations and 28 supporting thematic reports. The Focus Group’s work was driven by the collaboration of more than 60 organizations from over 30 countries. Asked what made the Focus Group unique, all of the group’s participants highlighted its diversity. This was the first initiative to bring together all the actors working in the interests of financial inclusion. We opened new lines of communication to build a strong understanding of the components of the DFS ecosystem. In the next phase of our collaboration, we will be certain that we are speaking on the same terms. This next phase of collaboration – the ‘Financial Inclusion Global Initiative’ – will be a three-year programme of collective action led by ITU, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank Group, and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure. The new multi-partisan will provide targeted assistance to selected countries in their pursuit of financial-inclusion targets. This implementation work stream will be supported by annual symposia and thematic working groups. Our Focus Group responded to a diverse set of challenges by mobilizing a diverse set of expertise. We are moving forward in exactly this spirit. The Focus Group demonstrated DFS stakeholders’ commitment to collaboration. ITU was glad to provide a neutral platform for this collaboration and we look forward to our continued work together to achieve universal access to financial services. Dr Chaesub Lee Director, ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau iii Table of Contents Foreword iii Table of Contents v I Cooperation frameworks between Authorities, Users and Providers for the development of the National Payments System 1 Executive Summary 3 1 Introduction and Background 4 2 Assessment of barriers to the development of digital financial services 4 3 Development of a vision statement, including policy objectives for DFS 6 3.1 National retail payments strategy and policy framework 6 3.2 DFS, financial inclusion objectives and national financial inclusion strategies 7 3.3 Vision statement and policy objectives for DFS 8 4 Roles of public and private sector actors in achieving the vision for the NPS/financial inclusion 9 4.1 Central Bank oversight and other roles 9 4.2 Role of other public sector entities 9 4.3 National payment council (or similar) to oversee implementation of the vision 10 4.4 Industry arrangements 10 4.5 Regulatory framework to support the vision 11 5 National Payments Council 11 5.1 The role of a NPC 11 5.2 Typical features/terms of reference for a NPC 12 5.3 Case studies 14 6 Other types of cooperation fora 16 6.1 Public sector-led 17 6.2 Payments associations and private payments councils 18 6.3 Consumer and business associations 19 7 Conclusions 19 II Payment System Oversight and Interoperability 23 Executive Summary 24 The Oversight of Payment Systems 28 A. The critical oler of payment systems in contemporary economies 28 B. Payment systems need oversight 28 Payment System Interoperability 35 A. Relevance of interoperability 35 B. Interoperability and oversight policy 37 v C. Oversight principles for interoperability in RPS 38 III Payment System Interoperability and Oversight: The International Dimension 48 Executive Summary 49 International Interlinking of Payment System Infrastructures 51 A. Drivers of international payment system infrastructures (PSIs) interlinking 51 B. Modalities of international PSI interlinking 51 C. Examples of international PSI interlinking 53 PSI interlinking and interoperability 58 A. National Interoperability 58 B. International interoperability: At the regional level 59 C. Challenges and risks of international interoperability 60 Implications for Oversight Policy 63 A. The cross-border dimension of payment system oversight 63 B. Oversight principles for international payment system interoperability 65 Annex 1: Oversight of payment systems in the SADC 72 IV Access to Payment Infrastructures 74 Executive Summary 76 1 Involvement of banks and non-banks in the payments business 78 2 Payment infrastructures 78 3 Types of access to payment infrastructures 80 A. Access for PSPs 80 B. Other variants of access to payment infrastructures for PSPs 81 C. Access for operators of other payment systems 81 4 Legal & regulatory, ownership and governance aspects 82 A. System access rules 82 B. International standards and other guidance 83 C. Ownership and governance of payments infrastructures 84 5 International evidence and trends 85 A. Access to RTGS systems 85 B. Access to ACHs 86 6 Insights and conclusions 87 A. Implications for operators, banks and non-banks 87 B. Implications for central banks and other authorities 88 Annex I: Case studies 89 Bibliography 92 vi V The Regulator's Perspective on the Right Timing for Inducing Interoperability 93 Executive summary 94 1 Introduction 95 2 Methodology 96 3 Reported answers 97 4 Final remarks 100 References 102 Annex: Questionnaire 103 vii ITU-TITU-T FocusFocus GroupGroup DigitalDigital FinancialFinancial ServicesServices InteroperabilityInteroperability I Cooperation frameworks between Authorities, Users and Providers for the development of the National Payments System About this report The authors of this Technical Report are Jose Antonio Garcia and Hemant Baijal. Contributions were received from the members of the FG DFS Interoperability Working Group and in specific from Lara Gidvani, Thomas Lammer, Shahbaz Nasir, Ariadne Plaitakis, Peter Potgieser, and Gordon Swaby. The Technical Report was reviewed by the Focus Group Digital Financial Services. Thomas Lammer provided the overall guidance for this project. If you would like to provide any additional information, please contact Vijay Mauree at [email protected] 1 ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services Interoperability List of acronyms ACH Automated Clearing House AML Anti-Money Laundering ATM Automated Teller Machine CFT Combating the Financing of Terrorism CPMI Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures DFS Digital Financial Services ECB European Central Bank ERPB Euro Retail Payments Board ITU International Telecommunication Union KYC Know Your Customer NFIS National Financial Inclusion Strategy NPC National Payments Council NPS National Payments System PCI-DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard PIN Personal Identification Number PIP Payment Infrastructure Provider POS Point of Sale PSP Payment Service Provider SEPA Single Euro Payments Area 2 ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services Interoperability Executive Summary In recent years the development of national payments systems, in particular of retail payments, has being geared in many countries to increasing the overall efficiency of payments and to the promotion and achievement of financial inclusion objectives. Development of digital financial services (and in general the shift from cash and paper-based instruments to electronic) and the expansion of the networks of service delivery/customer access points to bring financial services closer to where people live and transact have been regarded as critical tools for the achievement of financial inclusion and overall efficiency objectives. Beyond the expansion of networks through new branches, agent banking, and delivery channels such as ATMs, POS terminals or mobile banking platforms, achieving interoperability of the various payment services offered is another key tool to enhance the proximity of financial services to all individuals and to increase overall convenience to the end-users. Retail payments in many countries are therefore being deliberately developed in these directions. Wide-reaching objectives like the ones mentioned earlier affect multiple layers of stakeholders (i.e. from regulators to typical payment service providers, to new/innovative payment service providers, to payment network operators, to end-users, etc.) and are therefore highly complex and difficult to attain. Experience shows that these objectives are very often only achievable with the deliberate,