Global Forum on Financial Inclusion for Development Remittances cost-reduction as a development goal (24 October 2013) Pascal Clivaz, Deputy Director General, International Bureau
UPU Vision and Strategy Access to efficient, reliable, secure and affordable electronic postal payment services (660 000 post offices). Extend the UPU worldwide electronic postal payment network (WEPPN). Focus in particular on migrants remittances corridors. Use the UPU WEPPN as integrator. New opportunities: mobile payments, COD, e-commerce, etc. Cost-reduction: contribute to the G8, G20 and UN 5x5 objective.
Postal Payment Services characteristics Worldwide access in particular in rural areas for the benefit of all citizens. Intergovernmental treaty: the Postal Payment Services Agreement and its Regulations. Affordable remittances with a high level of quality and security. Added-value non-payment products and services. New state-of-the art technologies.
Postal operators Main characteristics Widespread network in countries. Proximity to customers, especially in rural areas: Postman go to each household s door. Good knowledge of communities and their needs. Perceived by customer as secure and affordable. Used to offer financial products and services in a Non- Exclusivity environment. Mostly state owned government can influence directly pricing of postal products to the benefit of populations.
65 IFS Users / + 250 Corridors Algeria Armenia Australia Azerbaijan Belarus Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo (Republic) Côte d'ivoire (Republic) Cuba Djibouti Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Estonia France French Polynesia Gabon Gambia India Indonesia Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, Republic Kyrgyzstan Laos Lithuania Madagascar Malaysia Mali Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Morocco New Caledonia France Niger Peru Portugal Qatar Russian Federation Rwanda Senegal Spain Tajikistan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay Uzbekistan Vietnam Zimbabwe
1. Examples of cost reduction actions West Africa Region (2009/2010): 6 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal): where 80% of the population live in rural areas. Through the modernization of the postal operators and creation of new electronic postal payment services: reduction of postal tariffs by 30% to 50%. Other MTOs followed example: Senegal: reduction of tariffs by 40% to 49%.
Reducing of tariffs by a global private operator:
Kersignané, Mali: post office built by migrant workers other MTO s
2. Examples of cost reduction actions Central Asia Region (2011/2013): 4 countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan): where 75,5% of POs are in rural areas. By connecting the rural areas and development of accountbased services and social payments: reduction of access costs to remittances between 3 to 15 USD per transaction (average amount per transaction 150 USD).
3. Examples of cost reduction actions Asia-Pacific Region (2011/2013): 6 countries (Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam): where 88,9% of post-offices are in rural areas. Malaysia Indonesia corridor: creation of flat fee unique tariff for any amount to be sent of 8 MYR (2,48 USD); the reduction of the postal tariffs was followed by other MTOs: by 47 to 60%.
4. Examples of cost reduction actions Costa-Rica: Creation of IFS and opening of postal exchanges was followed by reduction of tariffs by a global MTO: 40%.
Key success factors for lowering prices Posts: Modernization of operations and systems. Increasing the competition. Extending postal payment services to the whole postoffice network in particular to rural and underserved areas. Offering secure, low cost postal payment services. Providing remittance services on a Non-exclusive basis. REACTION - OTHER REMITTANCE PROVIDERS LOWER COSTS