Peru leads efforts in Latin America to expand financial inclusion through the implementation of the new electronic currency system aimed at boosting it across the rural areas, the World Bank (WB) said Monday.
Xavier Gine, lead Economist in the Finance and Private Sector Development Team of the Development Research Group at the World Bank, Peru has a very good financial regulation, which is above the regional average.
The WB's official pointed out that many countries in the region are interested on Peru' new initiative for financial inclusion, which is based on the creation of a platform for electronic money.
"If this platform of electronic money works well, it will be a radical change, especially for those people living in remote parts of the country," he noted. "The conditions are ripe for a broader financial inclusion in the Andean nation," he added.
Gine made these statements at the First National Forum of Education and Financial Inclusion, organized by Peru’s banking association- Asbanc. The forum is taking place from September 15 to 16 in the nation's capital Lima.
In January 2013, Peru became the first country in Latin America to implement a law that regulates the use of a new electronic currency system. With this new electronic cash initiative, people in remote parts of the country can make payments, money transfers and other operations through mobile phones.
Asbanc estimates that once e-money is operational, 1 million Peruvians, excluded from the formal banking system, will use the electronic system and that 5 million Peruvians will be using it after 5 years – significantly improving financial services access an inclusion in the Andean nation.
(END) JJN/DLG
Published: 9/16/2014