Page 316 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

Executive Summary

Government-to-person (G2P) and employer-to-person payments of all sorts, often referred to as “bulk
payments”, are seen by many as key enablers for the growth of the digital financial services (DFSs) ecosystem.
In this paper, we examine ways in which bulk payments have been made in the past and look at ways in which
this has improved over recent years. We also analyse the remaining challenges which have stymied bulk
payment rollouts in many countries.
We then look forward and anticipate ways in which bulk payments may be made in cases where the infrastructure
has developed to a point where digital transaction accounts are pervasive, a biometric national ID system is
in place, and interoperability among DFSs providers is common. We propose a model of how bulk payments
might be made when those conditions are met. Finally, we take a look at three countries: India, Nigeria, and
Peru, which all show particular promise of developing in these directions.

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