BRINGING SMART POLICIES TO LIFE MEMBER SERIES: FINANCIAL INCLUSION JOURNEY HAITI: DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES (SFD) CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS USED INTRODUCTION 3 AFI Alliance for Financial Inclusion FOREWORD 4 ATM Automatic Teller Machines SUMMARY 5 BM World Bank BNC National Credit Bank CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS 5 BRH Central Bank of Haiti The Central Bank of Haiti (BRH) innovates on payment system issues 5 CRS Catholic Relief Services Haitian Electricity Company The cell phone: A new payment method in Haiti 5 EDH HIFIVE Projectforintegratedfinancing“tovaluechains The new actors 5 and entrepreneurs” in Haiti Legislation in force 6 HMMI Haitian Mobile Money Initiative Options are geared towards a Bank-Led Model 6 NICTs New information and communication technologies Strategic financial transactions are authorized 6 IMF MicrofinanceInstitutions THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES IN WFP World Food Program HAITI: THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS 7 PRONAP National processor of payments The BRH provides a framework for Digital Financial RTGS Real-Time Gross settlement system Services in Haiti 7 SFD Digital Financial Services New partnerships for financial inclusion 7 SPIH Haitian Interbank payment system The mobile wallet as an alternative to cash 7 USAID United States Agency for International Development The evolution of the digital market in figures 8 LESSONS LEARNED AND PERSPECTIVES 10 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Key factors for the dissemination of Digital Financial LEGISLATIVE TEXTS Services (SFD) in Haiti 10 > Electronic Exchange Act, of March 17, 2017 Limitations and challenges for Digital Financial Services > Law on the electronic signature of March 17, 2017 in Haiti 10 > Lawonbanksandotherfinancialinstitutions,May14,2012 > Guidelines relating to online banking in September 2010 Lessons learned and perspectives 11 > Additional note to the guidelines on online banking in February 2011 > NationalRetailPaymentsystemtosupportfinancialinclusion,AFI2017 > Circular 101-3, of August 11, 2017 > Circular 109, April 3, 2017 > HaitianConstitutionof1987modified ARTICLES > Max Etienne, Haitian Monetary and Financial Code, C3 Editions, 2013 > Law establishing the Central Bank of Haiti (BRH) > BEAULIEU Charles A., The Haitian banking system, Ediciones Natal, 1987 > BERTRAND Michel G., Guide to the Haitian banking circuit, Ediciones Natal, 2002 > Thierry BONNEAU, Banking Law, Montchrestien, 2009 WEB SITES CONSULTED > Http://www.brh.ht May 11, 2018 > https://www.afi-global.org/May11,2018 > Https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/eg2p_Haiti.pdfMay11, 2018 > https://www.unglobalcompact.org/system/attachments/15660/ original/120531_Dalberg_UNGC_COP_2012.pdf?1338447178May11, 2018 > Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar, and Jake Hess, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the FinTech Revolution, World Bank: Washington, DC, 2018. STUDIES AND PRESENTATIONS > Mapping Digital Financial Services Systems: Sector update and recommendation, USAID/DAI, February 2018 © 2018 (August), Alliance for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved. 3 AFI MEMBER SERIES HAITI INTRODUCTION The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a network owned and driven by members with acommonobjectiveofscalingupfinancial inclusion at country level, has been able to facilitate the implementation of impactful policy changes at country level through its cooperative model that imbeds peer learning and peer transformation. It has been a decade now since the network began this quest to addresstheglobalchallengeoffinancial exclusion. We have witnessed tremendous We are proud of the leaders in our member institutions, achievementsinfinancialinclusionfromour who through their unwavering efforts have been able to membership, driven by practical policy solutions steernational-widesupportinaddressingfinancial inclusion challenges. that draw on lessons across the network. This Member Series publication will continue to feature the AFI members have been focusing on ways to support unique journeys of our members in addressing their countries in designing and implementing high-impact, financialinclusionchallenges.Thediversityofthenetwork tailor made solutions that meet their needs and has the advantages of highlighting multiple approaches to challenges. These country-led approaches have created tacklethecommongoaloffinancialexclusion. ownership and a sense of pride as ever more ambitious targets are set and achieved. It is imperative that such Join me in this Series and let’s journey with our member lessons are highlighted from each member’s perspective Banque de la Republique d’Haiti (Central Bank of Haiti) as on how AFI’s peer learning approach and in-country theychampionthetransformationofthefinancialinclusion implementation have been instrumental in facilitating landscape in Haiti. transformation. Thus, we feature such practical lessons in this Members Series publication. Dr. Alfred Hannig Executive Director, Alliance for Financial Inclusion The Members Series serves to elevate the members’ financialinclusionachievementsandbringtothefore,key policylessonsthatwillbenefitothermemberswhoare pursuing similar objectives. AFI’s ethos of cooperation and knowledgesharingisservedbetterwhenthefinancial inclusion journeys of our members are recorded and shared amongst the network, and beyond. AFI membership, which represents about 85% of global unbanked, is uniquely positioned to tackle the global financialinclusionchallenges.Wehaveenormouslessons from the network that need to be highlighted and amplified.Theserangefromtheeffectiveuseof technology, application of national and regional coordinatingstructures,tothepursuitofspecificfinancial inclusion enablers that are unique to countries and regions. 4 AFI MEMBER SERIES HAITI FOREWORD Financial institutions play an essential role in economic life because of their capacity for monetary creation, mobilizing savings, as wellasfinancialintermediationrelationships through the products and services they offer their clients. The access to, and use of, adequatefinancialproductsandservicesallows households to improve their living conditions, and lets companies develop their activities in a better way. It is true, however, that lack of accesstofinancialproductsandservicescan Today, more than ever, it is important to ensure access limit the ability of economic agents to take full tofinancialproductsandservicestothevastmajorityof advantage of certain market opportunities. the population, in order to promote sustained economic growthandworktowardsfinancialstability.TheCentral BankofHaitiisconvincedthattheobjectivesoffinancial Unfortunately,despiteeffortstomodernizethefinancial inclusion cannot be achieved without the participation sector in Haiti, a large part of the population lacks access of the different national actors. The path to travel tobasicfinancialservices.ThenumberofHaitianswho requires both an individual and collective effort. BRH areincludedfinanciallyisstillrelativelylow.Accordingto is also convinced that advances in New Information and the Financial Inclusion Survey (Global Findex)1 carried out Communication Technologies (NICTS) can help to reduce by the World Bank (WB), the percentage of the population thefinancialexclusiongapbynotonlyallowingmore with a bank account increased from 22% in 2011 to 32% importantaccesstothefinancialsystem,butalsoby in 2017.2 Similarly, because of the high costs of creating promotingtheavailabilityofinnovativefinancialproducts branchesoffinancialinstitutionsinremoteanddifficult-to- adapted to the everyday reality of families living in access areas, these areas continue to have an inadequate isolated communities, and for whom the level of service is level of coverage or simply lack services altogether. insufficient. Through the Central Bank of Haiti (BRH), the country is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). For the Central Bank of Haiti Encouraged by the exchanging of information, availability Georgette Jean-Loui of data and the feedback provided on the different Director General strategiesusedbyothercountriestopromotefinancial inclusion at the level of different AFI platforms, and motivated by the trainings provided with the support of the Alliance, the Haitian representatives managed to comply with the commitments of the Maya Declaration. Through the launch of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy(NFIS)in2014,theHaitianCentralBankmanaged tomeetoneofthefirstcommitments.In2018,itassumed four Maya commitments focused on different issues. The commitments were generated around the following topics: financialeducation,financialdatacollection,genderand Digital Financial Services (SFD). In relation to these issues, Haiti pledged to achieve the following objectives: 1 Develop a National Financial Education Strategy (February 2019); 2 Tocarryoutageospatialmappingoffinancialinclusion. This was carried out in May 2018; 3 Generate disaggregated data on the access to and use of financialproductsandservicesforspecificgroups,such as women’s; 4 Continuewiththemodernizationofthe“National Processor of Payments” (PRONAP) payment system. 1 Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar and Jake Hess. 2018 2 http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=global- financial-inclusion 5 AFI MEMBER SERIES HAITI SUMMARY CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS With the Maya Declaration of 2011, we opted THE CENTRAL BANK OF HAITI (BRH) INNOVATES ON for the use of technological tools in SFD. To this PAYMENT SYSTEM ISSUES end, new business models have been created,