The unbanked population in the Pacific is gradually reducing as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), working in partnership with the Government of Australia and New Zealand, helps countries in the region to achieve financial inclusion.
This effort has enabled 2.2 million people in the region to gain access to financial services through the strengthening of financial institutions and the leveraging of payment systems.
This is consistent with the IFC’s belief as Thomas J. Jacobs, IFC Country Manager for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands, emphasized the organization’s focus on building inclusive and sustainable financial markets that are critical to the eradication of extreme poverty.
“Our work in the Pacific is focused on several key areas including the digitization of financial services to bring more people into the formal financial system and the modernization of the payments system infrastructure to lay the foundations for payment innovation. We’ve developed new products for the remittances market to ensure more money gets to families, helping pay for food, education and other essentials, and we’re helping financial institutions improve their ability to assess credit and tailor products for customers,” stated Jacobs.
According to him, IFC has helped 2.2 million Pacific Islanders access financial services by strengthening financial institutions and leveraging payment systems. Currently, the organization is working with partners to modernize financial systems across the Pacific, including developing a cashless payment system for Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. This system will allow banks to connect with each other and their central bank for electronic payments transfers.
Mr. Jacobs said IFC efforts had seen credit bureaus established in various countries including Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Tonga.
“In Papua New Guinea, the work we’re doing has led to better financial decisions, improved transparency, and disclosure in lending, and opened avenues for consumer recourse. We helped people in rural and remote areas of Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji to use mobile based banking services – 450,000 mobile banking users in four years in Papua New Guinea, over $10 million in transactions in Solomon Islands with about 85,000 people trained in financial literacy,” he added.
The IFC invests in financial institutions and also acts in an advisory role for governments, central banks, and financial institutions to tackle these challenges in the Pacific.
Across the Pacific, the IFC works in partnership with the governments of Australia and New Zealand to create opportunities for people, encouraging the private sector to boost sustainable growth and jobs, reduce poverty and help island nations to tackle their unique development challenges.
With as many as 2.5 billion adults worldwide still lacking access to financial services such as payments, pensions, credit and savings accounts, there is still much work to be done which is even more important to achieve during a time such as now when so many people and businesses have been adversely affected by the economic impact of COVID-19.
