The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has announced that it is to launch new digital financial services projects with posts in eight countries through its Financial Inclusion Technical Assistance Facility (FITAF).
Speaking about the projects, UPU director general Bishar A Hussein, said, “The posts vast physical network has already made it an engine for financial inclusion, but there is potential to reach many more unbanked people through digital networks. The FITAF program has already helped bridge this gap in countries selected in last year’s first call for projects – now it will do the same in the additional eight countries selected.”
FITAF, a UPU-led initiative in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Visa Inc., focuses on advancing financial inclusion by providing technical assistance and financial resources to posts so that they can provide accessible and relevant digital financial services, primarily mobile payments, through their networks.
The countries selected in the program’s second call for projects are Burkina Faso, Egypt, Grenada, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Tunisia. The projects range from helping selected postal operators develop digital finance strategies and private-public partnerships, to implementing solutions such as mobile banking, digital savings accounts and e-wallets.
The UPU has also launched its third call for FITAF projects. It will select new projects from postal operators toward the end of 2020. To learn more, please visit: www.upu.int/en/fitaf.