The Mobile Financial Services Working Group (MFSWG) supported a core set of mobile financial services (MFS) financial inclusion indicators for access and usage during the working group’s seventh meeting co-hosted by the Superintendencia de Bancos (SIB) de Guatemala and AFI on 22-24 April 2013 in Antigua, Guatemala. The event brought together 43 participants overall, including 28 policymakers from 18 different nations, to share their experiences and expertise.

During the meeting, the MFSWG discussed and endorsed a guideline note on consumer protection within the context of MFS, a discussion paper on cross-border remittances and a guideline note on supervision and oversight. These working group products will be published over the course of 2013.

Additionally, MFSWG members conducted self-assessments on the level of interoperability and interconnection in their respective nations with the help of an analytical framework. As a final outcome, the working group will develop and publish a guideline note on interoperability and interconnection.

Topics such as new cooperation models, the Russian Universal Payment Card and Visa’s mobile-enabled personal payment program called “Visa pagos y Transferencias” were also highlighted.

Among those attending a MFSWG meeting for the first time were AFI member institutions from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Senegal.