At this session, we’ve heard representatives of regulators discussing their views of the current and future requirements of mobile money regulation. The general and corporate requirement perspective as well as the consumer demand perspective has been presented.
Key points/questions of the panel:
- Brand and distribution are seen to be the key assets required to deliver mobile money services.
- Financial services regulation for non-banks is alive in some markets and has been blocked in others.
- Solving regulatory barriers for mobile money.
Panelists were:
- Stephen Mwaura, Central Bank, Kenya
- Kim Vada, Deputy Director General, National Bank of Cambodia
- Carlo Corazza, Payment Systems Development Group, The World Bank
- and a guy from Mexico, whose name I forgot and who came instead of James Olekah from Nigeria
And here’s what we’ve learned from the panel:
- They all talked about challenges they faced when tried to implement mobile payment solutions.
- We’ve heard how things are developing in Kenya, Cambodia and Mexico, their respective regulatory frameworks, and what they do (and still need to do) to foster mobile financial services adoption.
- How to protect customers was one of the key points.
- Mobile money related services are seen as huge opportunity, and governments plan to invite/license more service providers.
- Micro-finance institutions along with operators can reach those people that banks can’t.
- World Bank does its share to assist the payment reform in developing countries by helping governments implement clearing systems, assist them in legal framework, and help them include the retail sector. So far, involving central banks in the process proved successful.
That’s it for this panel. The next presentation is on…