Jamaica Establishing Framework for Mobile Financial Services

Mona School of Business Mobile Banking conference today

Friday, December 10, 2010

International experts, together with key local banking and telecommunications sector stakeholders are to discuss the establishment of a framework for the delivery of mobile financial services in Jamaica.

The Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Conference scheduled for today (Friday) will examine the regulatory, commercial and technical considerations for the development of mobile banking locally. The conference is coming at a critical time as several institutions have recently started independent mobile banking services.

"Financial services emerging through mobile channels are reaching a mass market beyond conventional banking networks," said Professor Evan Duggan, Executive Director of the Mona School of Business, at The University of the West Indies (UWI). He stated that these services need to be optimized to serve mass market through microfinance, rather than traditional credit; as well as, ad hoc bill payment such as school fees in addition to utility payments and provide low cost savings products.

"Given Jamaica's profile with respect to the well reported teledensity, other information and communication technology infrastructure; as well as its banking demographics, it is primed for the emergence of such services," he stated. He was addressing a press briefing about the MFS Conference at the UWI, Mona on Monday, December 6.

"Mobile phone access to financial services for many citizens that are currently underserved is timely and, in fact, has enormous scope," said Dr. Maurice McNaughton, Director of the Centre of Excellence, Mona School of Business, UWI. He pointed out that the mobile banking initiatives of the last few months, "Signals the importance and rapidly growing commercial interest in the application of mobile technology to deliver financial services."

This development promises to bring major change to accessibility of financial services in Jamaica, Dr. McNaughton indicated.

It is against this background that the MFS Conference is being held, said Professor Terrence Forrester, Director of the Tropical Medicine Research Institute (TMRI) at the UWI. He stated that, "Conducting commerce using a mobile device like a cell phone is an exciting prospect that Jamaica is poised to introduce in one of many alternative formats."

The Conference, to be attended by a wide cross section of public and private sector representatives, will address the technicalities around many of the issues that are important in helping to determine the most suitable approach to mobile financial services in Jamaica, Professor Forrester said.

The MFS Conference, at the Terra Nova Hotel, is being conducted by Solutions for Society, a Think Tank in the Tropical Medicine Research Institute and the Mona School of Business at the UWI, in association with USAID Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank.