Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, June 27, 2016—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is launching a new advisory project to further strengthen the country’s financial infrastructure and unlock affordable financing for smaller businesses and individuals, helping them grow and create jobs.
Over the next three years, the Electronic and Digital Financial Services Project will help establish effective and sustainable e-service providers in the Kyrgyz Republic. The aim is for customers to be able to perform a wide range of financial transactions using mobile products, including bill payments, loan repayments and money transfers.
In addition, the Financial Markets Infrastructure Project III will continue to help develop an efficient credit reporting system to help reduce default rates and expand lending in the country. It will also continue to expand its financial literacy program and promote movable asset-based lending to allow smaller businesses to use assets like machinery and crops as collateral for loans.
Lada Orozbaeva, Deputy Chairperson of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, said: “Thanks to this new project and the application of modern innovative technologies, small business owners will be able to access basic retail banking services such as cash withdrawals and fund transfers with their bank cards or mobile phones, without the need to travel to remote bank branches.”
In the Kyrgyz Republic, more than two-thirds of the adult population is excluded from formal financial services. A majority of the population has no choice but to rely on cash and informal services for transactions, savings and credit, at high risk and cost.
“Significant improvements in mobile phone and card payment technology are resulting in new, innovative business models that deliver financial services at lower prices to more remote areas. By supporting regulatory reforms and providing technical advice and knowledge, we hope to unlock the great potential that mobile financial services have for increasing access to affordable, mass-market financial services,” said Rolf Behrndt, Practice Manager, World Bank Group Finance and Markets Global Practice.
The Azerbaijan-Central Asia Electronic Project and Digital Financial Services and Financial Markets Infrastructure Projects are funded by the government of Switzerland and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, and implemented by IFC within the World Bank Group Finance and Markets Global Practice.
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visit
www.worldbank.org
,
www.miga.org
, and
www.ifc.org
.
To learn more about the UK’s Department for International Development
, please visit
www.dfid.org
.
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