Regulators from Tajikistan are exploring the potential of mobile financial services to help bring financial services to the largely unserved majority of the population. To learn more about how other regulators have capitalized on the potential of mobile financial services (MFS), National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) conducted a successful knowledge exchange visit to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) from 28 November to 2 December 2011, with support from the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and funding from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Tajikistan’s financial sector is currently in the early stage of developing a comprehensive plan for branchless banking. Based on a national mid-term banking sector development strategy, the National Bank of Tajikistan has taken the lead in supporting mobile financial services as one of the keys to extending financial access to the country’s mostly unbanked population. Thanks in part to its membership in the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, the National Bank of Tajikistan learned of Pakistan’s experience in branchless banking and saw an opportunity to gain some valuable first hand insights from its peer at SBP, through the AFI knowledge exchange program.  

During the visit, SBP’s Development Finances Group (DFG) organized a series of informational presentations and discussions for the Tajik delegation, focusing on mobile financial services. Pakistan’s Departments of Banking Policy and Regulations, Agricultural Credit and Micro Finance Banking Surveillance, and Payment Systems were on-hand to contribute their knowledge.

As a result of the visit, Tajik officials reported gaining deeper insight into the emergence of mobile technology, its regulation and existing business models in Pakistan. These insights enabled the National Bank of Tajikistan to enrich its own planning work and as a direct result, the country’s first set of regulations on mobile money and pilot MFS activities are expected during 2012.

The AFI network is based on the principle that financial inclusion policy in the developing world can be rapidly developed and expanded through a network that encourages peer-to-peer, South-to-South sharing of knowledge and expertise. The experience of the National Bank of Tajikistan and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is a vivid demonstration of the value of this model.