On 30 June, the third Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) Leadership Forum was held in Singapore with strong support from the AFI network. The forum brought together decision makers from financial regulatory authorities and mobile operators from over 20 countries. Many AFI members, including Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. (Philippines) the AFI Policy champion on mobile financial services & financial inclusion strategy, were among the participants.

The theme of the forum was “Regulation and Mobile Money for the Unbanked” and its overall focus was to explore the current challenges associated with regulating mobile financial services. Three working sessions took place, “Risks in non-bank e-money institutions”, “Anti-money laundering frameworks for cash merchant networks” and, ‘Consumer protection”.

The MMU Leadership Forum was part of a larger program that included the 7th MMU Working Group meeting, which was held on the previous day. Previous MMU Leadership Forums were held in Barcelona (2009) and Rio de Janeiro (2010).

Both the MMU Working Group and Leadership Forum were closed door, invitation only events.