Postal financial inclusion is enjoying a boom phase. After banks, postal operators and their postal financial subsidiaries are the world's second biggest contributor to financial inclusion.
Today, one billion people use the postal sector for savings and deposit accounts, and more than 1.5 billion profit from basic transactional services through the Post. In India alone, 30 million new postal savings accounts were opened in 2012.
Postal networks have much to offer for financial inclusion.
Donors and policymakers are starting to realize the potential of postal financial services, and the role that Posts can play in increasing financial inclusion. Following the example of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has shown its commitment to postal financial inclusion, several donors are now focusing their efforts on leveraging postal networks for financial inclusion.
The UPU, jointly with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the International Organization of La Francophonie, has established this forum as a platform for dialogue on postal financial inclusion between governments, postal operators, central banks, private sector players and international organizations.
The Forum's objectives are to:
- Raise awareness on the role of Posts in financial inclusion
- Bring together decision-makers to exchange best practices in the area of postal financial inclusion
- Provide a forum for discussion between central banks and postal operators
(1) H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development - Extract from the Foreword to the Global Panorama on Postal Financial Inclusion, UPU 2013.
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