Leasi Papali’i Scanlan: Financial inclusion and mobile banking in Samoa Address by Mr Leasi Papali’i Scanlan, Governor of the Central Bank of Samoa, at the official opening of the Workshop/Information Exchange on “Financial Inclusion and Mobile Banking in Samoa”, Apia, 20 January 2010. *  *  *  At the outset, I would like to thank all of you for accepting our invitation to participate in today’s Workshop on Mobile Money and Mobile Banking, which are two key strategies for implementing what is known as Financial Inclusion. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our partners on financial inclusion in the Pacific, Mr. Tillman Bruett and Mr. Michael McCaffrey of the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Program. As stated in our invitation letter, you have been identified as Individuals and Representatives of Organizations with the potential to make a significant contribution to financial inclusion and financial literacy; especially those of you with an interest in mobile telephones and financial services businesses in general. I trust that the free exchange of your valuable knowledge and experiences, will not only greatly benefit the other Participants of today’s Workshop but also Financial Inclusion (as a whole) in Samoa. In July 2009, I attended a Pacific Regional Meeting in Fiji to discuss the advent of Microfinance in the Pacific. At this Meeting, I was introduced to the concept of Financial Inclusion, and I was subsequently convinced of its relevance and importance to Samoa.
As you will be hearing from Mr. Tillman Bruett, Financial Inclusion is simply described as the extension of financial services, at affordable costs, to reach those that are classified as the “unbanked”. These are people who have little or no access to formal financial services generally, not only as a result of the lack of financial education, but also due to their rural and isolated locations or low incomes. The purpose of the many Financial Inclusion strategies that are being implemented around the world, is to connect these “unbanked” people with the formal banking system, to enable them benefit from the various financial services that are available, and thus help equip them with the confidence to make informed financial decisions. Financial Inclusion has the potential to play a very important role in Samoa’s economic development. Traditionally, much of the efforts of the Central Bank of Samoa (like most other central banks in the world) have been concentrated on promoting financial and economic stability, on the “macro” level. Unfortunately, there has not been enough attention given directly to developing and promoting the “micro” sector of the economy, which accounts for the major part of the population. Reflecting the leading roles increasingly played by many overseas central banks, in driving Financial Inclusion in their economies, the Board of the Central Bank of Samoa recently approved for the Bank’s mandate to be expanded to include Financial Inclusion.