23 April 2010: The promotion of best practices, regulatory frameworks and in-depth research on access to financial services hold the key to including postal operations development policy for financial services, concluded a round table on financial inclusion held in Berne, Switzerland on Thursday 22 April.

The roundtable – held as part of the Universal Postal Union’s 2010 Postal Operations Council (12 – 30 April 2010) – featured a high-level panel of international development aid organizations and donors to discuss how best postal organizations can developing postal financial services and contribute to financial inclusion efforts.

Tamara Cook, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the UPU should continue making analyses so that Posts can be included in the Financial Sector Assessment Programme, a joint International Monetary Fund and World Bank initiative that provides detailed analyses of countries’ financial sectors, their soundness and their contribution to countries’ growth and development.

AFI’s Hayder Al-Bagdadi said that promoting groundbreaking financial inclusion policies in cooperation with central banks was the UPU’s way forward.

The workshop generated lively debate, as financial organizations such as the World Bank, Planet Finance and PostFinance International Development shared their experiences of different models in Azerbaijan, Brazil, India and South Africa, where postal banks ensure that millions of people, often the least well-off, have access to financial services.

According to Pedro de Vasconcelos, of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), between 30 and 50 percent of the 300 billion money transfers sent worldwide annually are made to rural areas and the cost of sending the money – often using informal networks – is very high. Posts therefore have a leading role to play in helping migrants send money to their families by developing money transfers and basic and low-cost financial services.

Usman Shettima from the Nigerian Central Bank said his institution was looking at ways of bringing financial services within reach of 70 percent of the rural population, but needed to implement workable cooperation models before joining partnerships or appealing for financial backers.

Antonique Koning, of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), said that the financial services and microfinance on offer in post offices needed transparent management and affordable rates. Counter staff should be given training in how to help postal customers when they open an account for the first time.

The 2010 Postal Operations Council takes place from 12 to 30 April 2010 in Berne, Switzerland. For more information on the Council, please visit the UPU web site.