4 Eurogiro News
Hans Boon,
[email protected]
increase economic opportunities for poor
rural people through the support and de-
velopment of innovative, cost-effective and
easily accessible remittances services. The
Facility also support productive rural invest-
ment channels and fosters an enabling
environment for rural remittances.
IFAD FFR has already supported two
regional projects with postal networks in the
Asian continent, and is considering giving
its support to new initiatives involving rural
postal networks, delivering more money at
the last mile. The support of IFAD FFR is
not limited to Asia.
African Postal Financial Services
Initiative
A regional programme is being launched
for the African continent, together with the
European Commission and in collaboration
Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
with World Bank, other UN entities and the
World Savings Banks Institute. The initiative
seeks to enhance competition in the African
remittances market to enable post offices
to offer remittances. The objectives of the
initiative are to reduce cost and time for
migrants and their families in the delivery of
the remittances. It is expected that involve-
ment of rural post offices will contribute to
this, and to the broader objective of access
to financial services. The initiative focusses
on expanding the role of postal networks in
up to 10 pilot countries.
The initiatives supported by IFAD provide in-
teresting opportunities for Eurogiro members
to increase their outreach in remittances
delivery.
3
Source: World Bank, Remittance Inflows by Country, Nov. 2012. WorldBank,Estimates of Migrant
Stocks 2010. Manuel Orozco, The Marketfor Money Transfers: Scorecard Report (Africa 2010,
Asia 2013, LatinAmerica 2012). World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, 2012.
Basic statistics on remittances in comparison by regions
Region
Remittances flows (US$ million)
Payment networks
Africa
60,000
25,000
Asia
258,000
351,500
Latin America
72,000
194,933
African Postal Financial Services Initiative
The initiative focuses on expanding the role of postal networks
in rural Africa in up to 10 pilot countries. Under the initiative imple-
mentation plans for pilot projects will be prepared; and, based on the
needs assessments, technical assistance will be provided to imple-
ment these plans to expand remittance services. This will include
marketing, training, ICT support and financial management, among
other aspects. The initiative includes policy advocacy and dissemina-
tion of the ‘best practices’ as inputs for scaling up and replication of
the projects across Africa.
Hartmut Schlegel,
[email protected]
“Like last year, Postbank offers the best service
and the highest security. Its range leaves little
to be desired and, like some of its competi-
tors, the company is also turning away from
obsolete security standards – no more PIN/
TAN, no more iTAN. Postbank is ahead overall
because it is the only bank to perform equally
well in both areas (security and range),”
reported the CHIP jury. Philip Laucks, Head
Postbank is Germany’s “Best Online Bank 2013”
of the Direct Banking division, is delighted by
this result: “Postbank has made it onto the win-
ners’ podium for the sixth time in CHIP’s test.
In this digital age, our online banking plays a
very important role for us, so we are constantly
developing our range further. Thanks to our in-
novation, we can be both a state-of-the-art and
a reliable partner to our customers. The CHIP
award gives us great encouragement in our
activities – we will be staying on this pioneer-
ing path!” The test, published by the computer
magazine CHIP on July 5, reviewed 15 banks
and savings banks in Germany.
3
A hat trick is not just a very special achievement in sport. In the major test by the computer
magazine CHIP to find “the best online bank”, Postbank has taken first place for the third time
in a row. In addition to its high security standards, the Bank scored points particularly for its
comprehensive range of functions and services for its customers
1,2,3 5,6,7,8