Global Dialogue on Digital Financial Inclusion

Today, we are seeing information and communication technologies (ICTs) as the foundation of economic and social development.

At ITU, we work more and more with non-traditional ICT players because ICTs are increasingly recognized an essential pillar of many areas of life in the converged ICT ecosystem.

That's why this year, for the first time, ITU's annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR)reached out to the financial sector by organizing the Global Dialogue on Digital Financial Inclusion.

Regulators and non-traditional ICT players came together on 11 May during the GSR 2016 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt to discuss how to join forces to create an enabling environment to support the achievement of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Today, there are 2 billion people around the world without access to traditional banking services. But, information and communication technology (ICT) can fill this need by providing access to basic financial services through mobile and online devices.

E-applications, including e-banking and e-payment, enable the development of small, micro and individual enterprises, and helps provide support to families in rural and remote areas.

We have seen examples such as M-Pesa in East Africa, one of the world’s most successful money transfer services, and other such opportunities where financial services have become available at an affordable cost to people around the world.

Now we are starting a constructive and inclusive dialogue that will provide the ICT and financial sectors with an opportunity to meet, share views and experiences, and identify good practices for collaborative regulation.

Together, we can harness the power of ICTs as an essential pillar of economic and social development.‎