- Daniela Gutierrez-Torres
Intermediate
Event Organizer(s)
Description
Mobile money services have become a key enabler for financial inclusion, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This has resulted in the growth and increased adoption of mobile money services, with the result that they now support 1.6 billion users in carrying out regular transactions. Despite the benefits of mobile money services, there are still areas that can be improved to increase their impact, especially in the area of policy and regulation. This course aims to support policymakers and regulators in understanding the contribution mobile money services make to financial inclusion in line with the OECD High-Level Financial Inclusion Principles, provide insights into current mobile money adoption trends, and identify appropriate regulatory frameworks that can be used to support licensing and oversight of mobile money services.
This course is designed for ICT policymakers and regulators, and may also be helpful to other important stakeholders, including Finance Ministries; and relevant international organisations and NGOs interested in the topic.
Qualifications or experience needed to participate in this training course:
- There are no qualifications or experience required but applicants must be working on mobile policy issues.
Selection criteria:
- The course is open to all regulators and policymakers working in mobile policy, including National Regulatory Authorities, finance ministries, central banks or other relevant government agencies.
- Representatives from academia and international organizations working on mobile policy issues.
Number of available places for the cohort:100.
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe how mobile technology can enable increased access to financial services and boost financial inclusion.
- List the benefits and challenges of mobile money services.
- Create strategies to effectively promote and regulate mobile money services in their respective countries.
- Describe the essential principles and regulatory frameworks needed to create an enabling environment for mobile money.
- List the potential risks and challenges associated with mobile money and ways to mitigate them, to ensure the safety and security of users' funds.
The course consists of five sessions (6 hours total), which include presentations and discussions relevant to the topic and case studies covering different regions.
A total score of 80% or higher is required to obtain the ITU certificate. The students will have to submit a written assignment (described below) to the platform and attendance at both training sessions will be mandatory and marked automatically on the ITU Academy platform via Zoom. Please submit a brief essay (500-700 words) summarizing the state of mobile money services in your country. Consider the following aspects in your response:
- What is the financial inclusion rate in your country?
- Which mobile network operators (MNOs) provide mobile money services, and what is their market share?
- How have mobile money services contributed to financial inclusion, particularly among underserved populations?
- Which institution regulates mobile money in your country?
- What regulatory and policy frameworks govern mobile money in your country?
- Are there any recent changes or upcoming developments?
- What challenges do mobile money providers face, such as network outages, interoperability issues, fraud risks, or agent liquidity constraints?
- What opportunities exist to enhance the impact of mobile money, such as digital innovation, partnerships with financial institutions, or regulatory support?”
The criteria to assess your final project are as follows:
- Originality of thought: Does your final project reflect originality of thought? Does it include original ideas on a specific aspect of telecoms policy or regulation?
- Quality of analysis: Have you analysed your chosen topic in-depth? Does your final project demonstrate independent analysis?
- Thoroughness and clarity: Have you conveyed your arguments in a clear and compelling manner? Have you fully and successfully developed your original idea?
- Data relevance and credibility: Does your final project contain gaps in the evidence presented? Does it contain references to credible sources for its facts and images?
Attendance is included in the total score, and distributed as below:
- Day 1 attendance and active participation 15%
- Day 2 attendance and active participation 15%
- Final project 70%
A total score of 80% or higher is required to obtain the ITU certificate.
Day 1 | 10:30 am–1:30 pm (BST)
- Session 1: An Introduction to Mobile Money | 10:30 am–12:00 pm (BST)
- Define what mobile money is
- List examples of mobile money transactions
- Outline differences between mobile money, mobile banking and other common terms
- Explain the mobile money ecosystem
- Group Discussion:
- Why is it important to differentiate between mobile money, mobile banking and mobile payments when the ecosystem players are common across each type of service?
- Session 2: Global Financial Inclusion and Mobile Money Data | 12:00 pm–1:30 pm (BST)
- Outline the key components of global account ownership
- Examine the global financial inclusion landscape
- Analyse data on mobile money’s contribution to financial inclusion
- Summarise drivers facilitating mobile money
- Explain the evolution of mobile money aimed at driving financial inclusion
- Group Discussion:
- Based on your understanding of the global and regional trends highlighted in this session, do you expect that the 1.4 billion people currently without access to formal financial services could have a mobile money account five years from now?
- Give three reasons to support your view
Day 2 | 10:30 am–1:30 pm (BST)
- Session 3: Enabling Regulations | 10:30 am–11:30 am (BST)
- Summarise the role of regulators and how enabling regulations can ensure the success of mobile money services
- Recognise regulations related to mobile money
- Outline key regulatory principles
- Compare licensing models (MNO-led, bank-led, etc.)
- Review case studies
- Group Discussion:
- We have seen that enabling regulations are a strong pre-requisite to ensuring MNO-led mobile money services can scale and achieve national financial inclusion objectives
- How would you convince the regulator and policymakers in your country to allow MNO-led mobile money services to launch and flourish?
- Which of the principles highlighted in this module would you use to present your case?
- Session 4: Financial Inclusion Principles | 11:30 am–12:30 pm (BST)
- Clarify why mobile money is important
- Discuss the role of mobile money in advancing financial inclusion
- Articulate the importance of financial inclusion to society
- Outline digital financial inclusion principles
- Exemplify actions that can be taken
- Explain the contribution of mobile money to the inclusion principles
- Group Discussion:
- Based on the earlier session on the evolution of mobile money and its growth, how does mobile money continue to support digital financial inclusion?
- Session 5: Mobile Money Fraud Typologies and Mitigation Strategies | 12:30 pm–1:30 pm (BST)
- Understand the importance of protecting customers
- Understand why mobile money fraud is unique
- Identify types of mobile money fraud
- Explore trends and patterns in mobile money fraud
- Learn anti-fraud strategies and their key elements
- Review key recommendations for MMPs and regulators
- Q&A Session
Tutors
Registration information
Unless specified otherwise, all ITU Academy training courses are open to all interested professionals, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, economic status and other diverse backgrounds. We strongly encourage registrations from female participants, and participants from developing countries. This includes least developed countries, small island developing states and landlocked developing countries.
