International Forum on Remittances 2007
DUET MULTI-PURPOSE PLATFORM Richard Schweger, CFO/COOBGS Smartcard Systems
WHO WE ARETechnology providers with 14 years of expertise Provision of Smart Card Retail Payment Systems Focus on cash substitution in domestic mass marketsProvider of secure delivery channels for low cost financial and non-financial servicesOffering Universal Smart Card based solutions for Financial Inclusion and Cash SubstitutionHeadquartered in Vienna, subsidiaries in India & Russia Austrian Export Prize Winner 2006
GLOBALIZATION
Globalization works well - when connecting well developed local structures
Cross border Remittance works well - what is needed is local infrastructure
Financial Inclusion is a Global task that has to be solved locally
Global and Local knowledge and experiences have to merge to offer a sustainable locally working solution
Remittance collection and disbursement are local transactions within a global
playing field
RURAL “FINANCIAL” DEVELOPMENT
Banks are not universal organizations when considering the provision of financial services to everyone and everywhere
Bank infrastructure and business set up lead to an exclusion of the poor (if to be performed profitably)
New type of entities took over to address this market (MFIs)
To grow this market and achieve scale it is necessary to combine/connect the existing banking system with MFIs
Appropriate delivery channels and adequate technologies can bridge the infrastructure gap
REMITTANCE
Remittance is one of the key Micro Financial Services (beside: credit, savings, insurance)
Accessibility/Outreach especially in the rural environment are of key importance
Provide a secure, controlled, efficient, scalable and universal delivery channel for all the services
Use technology requiring little skill sets
Invest once, use many times for diverse products & services
Utilize existing third party corresponding networks
Offer lowest cost of ownership through “hybrid technology”
POSSIBLE REMITTANCE SCENARIO
Create a local low cost financial services environment
Link remittances to additional financial services
No traveling for recipient, remittance collection close by
Recipient has the choice of only partial remittance collection
For immediate spending - collection in cash
Remaining balance on account and smart card with any time accessibility (option: cash less spending)Recipient: Security, Interest Income, Universal Accessibility
Issuer: Additional Float
CONCLUSION
Local solutions are required and these are to be implemented globally
It is a mistake to look at select individual services and their problems without taking the whole context into evaluation
Technology is an enabler and should provide a universal solution for universal services
The delivery channels have to be efficient, secure and scalable providing the underlying structure for the provision of ubiquitous financial services
DUET IN PERSPECTIVE
DUET is a universal solution addressing domestic mass markets for the provision of end-to-end financial services from Financial Inclusion to Cash Substitution
DUET is uniquely positioned to deal with the main drivers of sustainability: cost reduction, efficiency increase, scalability, universality and geographical outreach
Connecting Banks with MFIs on the DUET platform will create cost efficient indirect channels to sub-urban and rural clients (fund flow through multiple hands)
DUET hybrid services and low cost infrastructure/devices guarantee lowest cost of ownership
DUET IN PERSPECTIVE
DUET enables usage and integration of existing correspondent networks (merchants, post-offices, pharmacies)
DUET-Transactional engine offers an efficient control of the fund flow from the issuer (via correspondent) to the recipient
The same card will facilitate multiple financial (credit/savings) and non financial (social/insurance) services to the clients
Full range of agent / client / merchant card services available in the field
MF STRUCTURESPONSOR
BANKS
CONTACT
BGS Smartcard Systems AG Gersthoferstrasse 131, A-1180 Vienna, Austria phone: +43/1/47601/303fax: +43/1/47601/330 e-mail: [email protected] web: www.bgssmartcard.com
Richard Schweger, CFO/COO