Page 31 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Recommendations

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Recommendations

Title of recommendation Access point interoperability
Working Group Interoperability

Audience for recommendation Authorities and DFS providers

Access point interoperability should be encouraged and implemented. A common interoperability brand at
access point level, such as agent, POS, or ATM, may ensure customer awareness of access point interoperability.
Effective interoperability of agents by initiating transactions via the agent account to any transaction account
should be aimed for to expand the effective size of service points/access channel networks.

Close proximity to bank branches, mobile money agents other points of access and channels is, generally,
insufficient if there is limited or no interoperability between those points of access. In fact, at present, most
innovative payment solutions are based on proprietary payment schemes that are not interoperable and as
such can only be used at a limited number of access points.
The usefulness of transaction accounts is augmented with a broad network of access points that also
achieves wide geographical coverage, and by offering a variety of interoperable access channels. The
consequences of low interoperability are overlapping or limited coverage, sunken investment costs and
inefficiency. For example, a proprietary payments infrastructure, such as a bank’s own ATM or POS network
that is not interoperable with other similar networks has limited impact on financial inclusion due to its limited
network size.

Interoperability can play a critical role in expanding the effective size of service points/access channel
networks. In contrast, exclusivity agreements limit the interoperability of service/access points that are
otherwise interoperable. Non-exclusive agent arrangements promote competition within the ecosystem
between DFS providers for both customers and agents.
If agent accounts can be used to initiate transactions to transaction accounts in other interoperable
schemes, this could result in agent level interoperability without the need for the agent to open accounts
in different schemes. The user of one mobile money scheme could cash-in at the agent of another mobile
money scheme and the agent in turn transfers the corresponding amount from its mobile money account to
the user’s mobile money account at the other (interoperable) scheme.

Despite many markets having mandated non-exclusive agency arrangements, exclusive arrangements
continue in practice. It is therefore important to implement cost effective mechanisms to monitor compliance.

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