PFIP Newsflash: Mobile Phone Banking To Take Off In Samoa

On January 22, 2010, commercial banks, microfinance institutions, telecoms, civil society organizations, government officials and donor agencies gathered in Apia, Samoa, to learn more about what mobile banking can offer to the island nation. The information exchange was co-sponsored by the Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) and the Pacific Financial Inclusion programme (PFIP) and was hosted at CBS. 53 representatives with interest in the topic attended a presentation on mobile money and remittances by Tillman Bruett, the PFIP Project Advisor, and then stayed for a discussion on how best to progress in Samoa.

The PFIP team will facilitate a total of five information exchanges in Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea in the coming months. The next information exchange is scheduled for Vanuatu at the end of February. The information exchanges begin with a short presentation on a topic of interest followed by some informal discussion on this topic as well as the promotion of financial inclusion in general with interested counterparts. Around July this year, the PFIP will announce a call for grant proposals from those with ideas on how financial inclusion in Samoa can be further improved.

Access the Prospects for Mobile Money in the Pacific: Focus on Samoa presentation by Tillman Bruett, Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) here.

For further information, please contact: Mike McCaffrey Michael.Mccaffrey@undp.org.

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PFIP Newsflash: Mobile Phone Banking To Take Off In Samoa