The Role of Postal Networks in Expanding Access to Financial Services (Volume II: Country Studies)
Nov 2006, Kumar, A. & Dongier, P.

This paper examines postal financial services in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa region.

This paper discusses the role of the postal network in expanding access to financial services in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Romania, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Vietnam.

The paper reviews:

• The public postal operator within the postal sector, and within the broader context of the communications sector;
  
• The roles of the postal network, and State and privately-owned banks, from the perspective of the financial sector development, with particular focus on payments' systems development and microfinance.

For each country, the paper analyzes:

Postal sector development, examining in detail:

• Performance indicators national postal organizations;
  
• Competition from telecommunications and information technology (ICT);
  
• Postal sector reform;
  
• Corporation: "Laws and Decrees";
  
• Commercialization and pricing;
  
• ICT-based modernization;
  
• Regulatory and market-based reforms.

Postal financial services in a market perspective, looking at:

• Postal savings;
  
• Organization;
  
• Management information systems (MIS) and product profitability;
  
• Postal payments;
  
• International remittances;
  
• Financial sector background;
  
• ICT and financial Services;
  
• Microfinance and the microfinance institution (MFI) market;
  
• Donor support.

Options for development.

The paper also conducts the 'strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats' (SWOT) matrix analyses, and offers conclusions and policy recommendations for the development of the postal networks of each country.

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Publisher(s):
World Bank

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