The 2010 AFI Global Policy Forum
Taking financial inclusion to the next level
The Way Forward
Key Findings and Concrete Actions
Three strikes of a miniature gong by Halim
Alamsyah, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia,
marked the end of the AFI Global Policy Forum
in Bali and signified the passing of the
financial inclusion baton to Mexico and Peru,
who have the honor of hosting the next
edition in 2011.
Earlier, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, Deputy
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
summarized the proceedings of the three-day
forum by reiterating the six principles of
financial inclusion espoused by President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his opening
address.
Mr. Moghalu said the forum showed there was
clear understanding among policy makers of
the role market incentives play in encouraging
innovative business models. He noted the
strong correlation between financial inclusion,
economic development and poverty
alleviation, which emerged from the
deliberations, and also alluded to the possible
synergies emerging out of G20’s role in
promoting financial inclusion.
 Français
Perspectives – Conclusions clés et Mise en
pratique
Aujourd’hui, le forum 2010 de l’AFI se
clôturait sur un succès. Le prochain Forum
mondial des politiques d’inclusion financière
de l’AFI se déroulera au Mexique et au Pérou
en 2011.
Le vice président de la Banque centrale du
Nigeria, M.Moghalu, a résumé les trois jours
du forum et a mentionné la corrélation forte
entre inclusion financière, développement
économique et réduction de la pauvreté.
Le directeur exécutif de l’AFI, M.Hanning a,
quant à lui, rappelé qu’il était maintenant
important que la communauté continue de se
mobiliser pour faire passer l’inclusion
financière au niveau supérieur. Même si tous
les acteurs présents s’accordent sur leurs
engagements pour faire avancer l’inclusion
financière, il existe tout de même des visions
conflictuelles sur les moyens d’y parvenir et
qu’il était important d’écouter l’ensemble
des opinions afin d’agir de façon équilibrée.
« Nous rentrons tous à la maison avec des
idées nouvelles », a conclu M.Hanning. Il a
appelé tous les acteurs présents à l’action et
à l’échange.
décourager les autres d’exploiter le
consommateur.
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Issu e 4
“We look forward to another year of progress
and next year’s Global Policy Forum,” he
concluded.
AFI’s Executive Director Alfred Hannig also
invoked President Yudhoyono’s address and
said that it underlined Indonesia’s
commitment and urged the gathering to build
upon it in order to take financial inclusion to
the next level. There is a clear understanding
of and, commitment toward, financial
inclusion among leaders but there are
Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah of Bank
conflicting views on how to go about it, he
Indonesia presents a gong to Carlos Serrano of
said, and noted that it is important to listen
CNBV Mexico
to all views and take a balanced step forward.
endorse AFI’s philosophy and we welcome that
The debate regarding mobile financial services very much. In conclusion, he noted: “We’re all
has shifted in favor of exploring partnerships going home with new ideas,” and called for
between MNOs, banks and other stakeholders, action by noting that “the time between the
Mr. Hannig observed. “There are many Forums is the most important” and urged
challenges and room for improvement,” he members to engage with each other.
cautioned.
On the G20’s involvement with financial For further information please contact
inclusion, Mr. Hannig said, “The G20 seems to info@afi-global.org
 Español
El camino a seguir: conclusiones INSIDE
Hoy celebramos la finalización de este Foro.
Los próximos anfitriones en 2011 serán México
Looking ahead
National Strategies and
y Perú. Targets for Financial
Inclusion
Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, Subdirector del Page 2
Banco Central de Nigeria, destacó la
correlación entre inclusión financiera,
desarrollo económico y alivio de la pobreza. Peer-to-peer Learning in
El Director Ejecutivo de AFI, Alfred Hannig, Action
dijo que existe un compromiso hacia la Page 3
inclusión financiera, aunque las opiniones
sobre cómo lograrla son divergentes y es
importante escuchar todos los puntos de vista
y avanzar equilibradamente. Photo Feature
The Day in Images
El debate sobre los servicios financieros Page 4
móviles está cambiando, dijo Hannig, y ahora
se exploran asociaciones entre ORM, bancos y
otras entidades. El G-20, agregó, “parece
estar haciendo suya la filosofía de AFI y esto
es algo que celebramos”.
Señaló además que todos retornaremos a
nuestros países con nuevas ideas y que “el
plazo entre foro y foro es el más importante”,
por lo que instó a los miembros a conectarse
entre sí.
The 2010 AFI Global Policy Forum
National Strategies and
Targets for Financial Inclusion
Indonesia and Other Successful Examples
Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Muliaman Hadad speaks about Indonesia’s financial inclusion strategies
The success of Indonesia’s financial inclusion
strategies is the result of coordination and
partnerships between local, regional and
national entities, and the presence of a robust
consumer protection framework, according to
Muliaman Hadad, Deputy Governor of Bank
Indonesia. Central banks are, and should be,
involved in financial inclusion because it is
necessary for financial stability, Mr. Hadad
noted.
On Tuesday evening, policy makers were
provided a glimpse into other successful
efforts from around the world. Central
bankers from countries as diverse as
Colombia, Liberia, Malaysia, and India spoke
about the rationale behind and hopes for their
respective financial inclusion strategies.
Carlos Serrano from CNBV Mexico said they
began with a diagnostic test that revealed the
need for more players to increase competition
and for technology to lower costs, and more
financial innovation. This led to a strategy
comprising of four components: Data
measurement, Policy, Dissemination and
Assessment of policies.
Mr. Serrano’s key insight was not to take on
too many things at a time and to focus first on
policies that promote access, use and quality,
in that order.
Samuel Thompson, Deputy Governor of the
Central Bank of Liberia, said his country’s
strategy was guided by post-war instability,
which caused a breakdown of the banking
system and led to capital flight.
Assisted by the International Monetary Fund,
the country is now working on a strategy
based on rigorous banking supervision
designed to restore confidence in the banking
system. Liberia is encouraging well-capitalized
banks to open branches in remote regions and
using a combination of microfinance and
mobile financial services to enhance access.
Its central bank has created a microfinance
unit and has developed a regulatory
framework for microfinance institutions
(MFIs).
Kamari Zaman Juhari of Bank Negara Malaysia
said his country’s experience was different in
that the central bank was focused on SMEs, a
majority of which are MFIs. So they set about
designing a microfinance framework and roped
in commercial banks and their wide branch
networks and experience in risk management
software. This strategy has helped set up an
SME credit bureau and consumer education
programs, which came in for much praise in
an earlier session on consumer protection.
Carlos Moya of Colombia’s Banca de las
Oportunidades, says, the focus is on providing
people with access to electronic savings
accounts and also subsidies to financial
institutions and NGOs to help enhance access.
More than six million microloans have been
disbursed so far, of which two million have
been to people who have never received any
banking support before, he said.
Umesh Sarangi, Chairman of India’s rural
finance giant NABARD, said the strategy is
aimed at ensuring the people at the Bottom of
the Pyramid benefit from India’s high rate of
growth. He noted the creation of the Financial
Inclusion Action Plan by the country’s central
bank, which will use the retail banking and
agent banking models “underpinned by
technology” to drive financial inclusion.
In conclusion, Nimal Fernando, Managing
Director of Inclusive Finance International and
moderator of Tuesday’s session, noted that
while strategy is important designing one is
not an easy task. If the diagnosis is inaccurate
then the interventions could be misplaced, he
further cautioned.
For further information please contact
info@afi-global.org
ISSUE 4 2/4
 Français
Stratégies nationales et cibles de
l’inclusion financière – Le cas de
l’Indonésie et autres exemples à succès
Le succès des stratégies d’inclusion
financière de l’Indonésie tient aux
partenariats entre acteurs locaux,
régionaux et nationaux et à la présence
d’un cadre de protection des
consommateurs solide, a déclaré M.
Haddad, vice gouverneur de la Banque
d’Indonésie.
D’autres exemples de stratégie furent
exposés, comme ceux de la Colombie,
Liberia, Malaisie et Inde.
Le Mexique a eu recours à un diagnostique
révélant un besoin accru de compétition
entre acteurs et d’innovation financière.
M.Serrano, CNBV Mexique, a déclaré qu’il
valait mieux se concentrer sur quelques
politiques que de se disperser dans de
multiples projets: dans l’ordre, promotion
de l’accès, l’usage et de la qualité. Le
Liberia et la Colombie ont mis en place
des stratégies prenant en compte
l’instabilité politique et sociale de leur
pays.
En conclusion, Nimal Fernando,
modérateur, a noté qu’il reste difficile
définir des stratégies d’inclusion financière
et qu’un diagnostique de qualité est
essentiel pour mettre en place des actions
adéquates.
 Español
Estrategias y objetivos nacionales
Las exitosas estrategias de Indonesia
dependieron de la colaboración entre
entidades locales, regionales y nacionales,
según Muliaman Hadad, Subdirector del
Banco de Indonesia.
Carlos Serrano, del CNBV de México, dijo
que no se debe trabajar en demasiadas
cosas a la vez, sino enfocarse primero en
las políticas de acceso, uso y calidad, en
ese orden.
Samuel Thompson, el Subdirector del
Banco Central de Liberia, dijo se está
trabajando en una estrategia basada en la
supervisión bancaria.
Kamari Zaman Juhari del Banco Negara de
Malasia, dijo que el Banco Central se ha
centrado en las PYME, 80% de las cuales
son IMF.
Carlos Moya, de la Banca de las
Oportunidades de Colombia, dijo que su
país desembolsó más de seis millones de
microcréditos.
Umesh Sarangi, Presidente de NABARD, de
India, destacó la creación del Plan de
Acción para la Inclusión Financiera.
Nimal Fernando, moderador de Sri Lanka,
advirtió que si el diagnóstico resulta
inexacto, las intervenciones podrían ser
inapropiadas.
The 2010 AFI Global Policy Forum
Peer-to-Peer
Learning in Action
Insights from AFI Knowledge
Exchanges
Rochelle Tomas of the Central Bank of the Philippines shares insights from the Knowledge Exchange with
Bank Negara Malaysia
In the penultimate session of the Global Policy
Forum in Bali, it became obvious why AFI’s
Knowledge Exchange program is one of the
most popular among its members.
Many financial inclusion innovations emerge
out of developing and emerging countries and
the Exchanges provide an opportunity for
policymakers to learn directly from their
peers about successful solutions to diverse
policy challenges.
For instance, the key outcome of the
exchange between the Central Bank of the
Philippines and Bank Negara Malaysia was the
formalization of a coordinated approach to
consumer protection in the Philippines.
Rochelle Tomas of the Central Bank of the
Philippines had this piece of advice: “It’s very
necessary to have a key objective before you
start [the knowledge exchange] process.”
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) went to the
Philippines, which helped it develop a mobile
payments regulation in Tanzania. The
experience also taught the bank to establish
relationships with other regulatory bodies in
the country and the bank is now spearheading
Tanzania’s financial inclusion policy.
A key insight, BoT’s George Sije said, is that
financial inclusion is possible with the creation
of an environment that enables and fosters
innovation, and that central banks should be
flexible and accommodative of new
technology.
Norasi Bukhamana of the Bank of Thailand,
which visited Mexico in February 2010, has
this to say about the experience: “In-depth
practical learning from real context to create
tailor-made programs.”
Indeed, the bank came back with a key insight
on improving livelihoods – start by promoting
basic services – resulting in an increase in the
scope of agent banking and consumer
protection norms.
The Central Bank of Kenya visited Brazil and
Colombia last October to learn about agent
banking from central bankers, commercial
banks and field trips.
Its executives derived an understanding of the
supervision and regulation of agents; the
value of public-private partnerships; and, a
focus on consumer protection, according to
Matu Mugo, Assistant Director of Bank
Supervision.
For further information please contact
info@afi-global.org
ISSUE 4 3/4
 Français
L’apprentissage entre pairs en action –
Aperçu des Echange de savoir de l’AFI
Cette avant-dernière session a mis
l’accent sur la popularité du programme
d’échange de savoir de l’AFI. Ce
programme fournit la plateforme
nécessaire aux pays pour apprendre des
expériences, positives ou négatives, des
autres pays.
Par exemple, l’échange ayant eu lieu
entre la banque centrale des Philippines et
la Banque Negara de Malaisie a résulté
dans la formalisation d’un cadre national
pour l’inclusion financière aux Philippines.
La visite de la Banque de Tanzanie aux
Philippines a facilité le développement de
règlementations en matière de paiements
par téléphonie mobile.
La Banque Centrale du Kenya a visité au
Brésil et en Colombie des responsables des
Banques centrales, banques commerciales
et acteurs de terrain, afin d’en savoir plus
sur le système d’agents bancaires.
Il s’agit d’« un apprentissage en
profondeur des pratiques avec une mise en
contexte permettant de créer des
programmes sur mesure » a déclaré M.
Bukhamana de la Banque de Thaïlande.
 Español
Los Intercambios de Conocimientos de
AFI
La penúltima sesión del Foro Mundial trató
sobre el Programa de Intercambio de
Conocimiento de AFI.
Gracias al intercambio entre el Banco
Central de Filipinas y el Banco Central de
Malasia se logró crear un marco nacional
para la inclusión financiera en Filipinas.
Rochelle Tomas, del Banco Central de
Filipinas, destacó la importancia de contar
con objetivos antes de comenzar estos
intercambios.
El Banco de Tanzania visitó las Filipinas y
esto ayudó a elaborar regulación para
pagos móviles en Tanzania. Se debe crear
un contexto que fomente la innovación,
expresó George Sije, del Banco de
Tanzania.
Norasi Bukhamana, del Banco de Tailandia,
quien visitara México en febrero de 2010,
dijo que la experiencia significó “un
aprendizaje profundo y práctico.”
El Banco Central de Kenia visitó Brasil y
Colombia para aprender sobre agentes
bancarios. Se informaron sobre cómo
supervisar y regular a estos agentes,
informó Matu Mugo, Subdirector de Bank
Supervision.
The 2010 AFI Global Policy Forum ISSUE 4 4/4

The Day in Images

The 2010 AFI Global Policy Forum concluded
successfully on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Thank you for
your participation. See you in Cancun, Mexico in 2011!

CONTACT
Alliance for Financial Inclusion
AFI, 399 Interchange Building, 24th
floor, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey –
Nua, Wattana,
Bangkok 10110, Thailand

t +66 (0)2 401 9370

f +66 (0)2 402 1122
e info@afi-global.org

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