Description
Financial services are accessible to only a small part of the Mediterranean partner countries’ population unlike mobile phones which have high penetration rates. In the region, less than 4 per cent of the population have access to traditional payment systems, while 9 out of 10 have a mobile phone.
Starting from this fact, the study aims to contribute to the development of alternative financial service distribution models, based on prepaid electronic payment systems and cellular technology in order to help address the problem of limited access to financial services observed in the Mediterranean partner countries.
In particular, the study first undertakes a mapping of the countries in the region with the view to assessing the feasibility of deploying new technologies for financial services in each country. The study also clarifies the elements needed for the successful implementation of the newly identified models, at the end of which it lists the institutions that could implement such projects in the region.
This study was financed by the EIB FEMIP Trust Fund.
- Executive summary: [EN]
