On April 27 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held an industry presentation attended by IOS Partners on ‘Using Digital Financial Services in Development’ led by Lotte Schou-Zibell, a Technical Adviser to the Finance, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department of the Bank.
As over 2 Billion people in the world do not have access to a bank account and formal lines of credit, half of which are in Asia, utilizing Digital Financial Services (DFS) to advance the goal of financial inclusion is an increasingly important objective of the ADB. This is particularly true given such services may be leveraged to encourage access to credit through non-formal pathways facilitated by the emergence of sophisticated technology available to all users through mobile and traditional web applications.
In fact, innovati
ons in information and communication technology directly assists consumers in Asia and elsewhere manage their risk, provides cheaper payments and remittances, removes obstacles to accessing credit, and enables access to financial services for individuals in remote and previously underserved locations.
With pilot projects ready to commence and in the pipeline for the Philippines, Georgia and Mongolia, the ADB is primed to place greater emphasis on the revolutionary benefits presented by proper capitalization of DFS in Asia and the Pacific. Critical to the success of these programs is the Bank’s stated focus on the cross-cutting themes of gender equality and advancing the interests of disadvantaged groups.
The future of development will be financial technology and IOS Partners is positioning itself to be an industry leader in the development of digital solutions to adapt to this trend. With the objective of improving the user experience through basic web applications, smart phones and tablets, IOS Partners through its subsidiary IOSSoft has developed off-the-shelf, open source and turn-key solutions specifically designed for the delivery of international development programs in emerging markets.
For more information please contact: Brendan Gilmore – email: bgilmore@iospartners.com
