Page 28 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Interoperability

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Interoperability

Figure 2: Tanzania’s Financial Inclusion Coordination Structure

Pakistan also framed its NFIS in mid-2015, with a well-structured council, steering committee and technical
committees/groups. This country’s experience to date is that the achievement of its NFIS targets depends
crucially on effective cooperation between financial and telecom regulators, financial institutions, mobile
network operators and solutions providers.

6.2 Payments associations and private payments councils

In some countries, private payments associations and/or private payments councils have been created and
play an important role in the development and shaping of the NPS.
In most cases, the main role of these organizations is the creation and enforcement of technical standards for
the local payments market (though often based in the relevant international standard, where applicable). In
this regard, interoperability is very often an industry-driven initiative. 17
Some relevant examples include the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and the European Payments
Council (EPC).
PASA is a private sector organization, designated as a “payments system management body” under South
Africa’s NPS Act. PASA is responsible for the organization, management and regulation of all payment systems
under PASA’s constitution. From a practical perspective, PASA assists the South African Reserve Bank by
representing, organizing and managing the conduct of its members in the “clearing layer” or clearing domain
of the NPS.

In the European Union, the EPC is the coordination and decision-making body of the banking industry in relation
to the support and promotion of the Single Euro Payments Area. The EPC develops payment schemes and
frameworks which help to realize the integrated euro payments market. In particular, the EPC defines common
positions for the cooperative space of payment services.

17 Nevertheless, in many cases discussions on interoperability are later on embraced by the NPC (or its equivalent) at the technical
level through one of its working groups, or at the political level, or quite often at both levels.

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