THE Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Zambia has pledged to work with Government in ensuring that rural communities are included in the plan to transform the lives of many.
This will be done through creating an inclusive financial sector.
FSD Zambia noted with excitement the President’s commitment to achieving economic transformation, entrepreneurship development and digital revolution with jobs and business opportunities for all Zambians.
“For FSD Zambia, this means more increased opportunities for many, especially the women and the youth, resulting in financial inclusion, particularly for micro and small enterprises, young people, and the vulnerable and excluded in our societies.
“We will work with the President and his Government in ensuring that rural communities are included in the plan to transform the lives of many by creating an inclusive financial sector,” according to the newsletter from FSD Zambia.
Meanwhile, FSD Zambia observed that commercial banks in Zambia had no choice but to engage effectively with their market counterparts in finance, particularly those offering a range of agent banking, mobile money and digital financial services.
Regrettably, it FSD Zambia indicated, this was not happening to the degree needed.
It explained that interoperability in banking gets lost in the commerce, and generally it was too costly and does not work well.
“While the National Financial Switch is developing this and fintechs are quickly gaining ground, banks had a great opportunity to engage closely with nonbanks to enable their own systems to be integrated into mobile money and other options.
“They lost their earlier chance. The next key in interoperability is to make the process cheap enough so it pays off for digital finance service providers to support integration instead of pushing for universal use of their own specific systems,” it stated.
FSD Zambia thereby urged banks to develop packages of services that were targeted effectively to specific groups.
“For example, microenterprises need cashflow information support, product fire and theft insurance, keyman insurance, working capital lending, and mobile money transfer systems,” it indicated.
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
