Digital Financial Services

In 2020, 18 countries in the AFI network reported that they have adopted 34 policy changes to enhance digital financial services (DFS). This update is set in the context of the past three years, where half of the countries in the AFI network have reported they were developing and implementing DFS reforms in their respective jurisdictions.

HIGHLIGHTS POLICY TRENDS SINCE 2018

34 115

reforms from 28 countries reported in 2020 Since 2018, there were 115 reforms reported in 43 countries reported

13 17 21

FinTech-related policy reforms E-money policies reported

National payments systems

In 2020, half of the DFS policy reforms developed and implemented are targeted towards mitigating the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provisions were made on e-money transaction, in transaction fee waivers, increase limit on transaction, initiatives aimed at increasing the access points of electronic transaction, among others. These provisions were made to increase access and usage of digital financial services during the global health pandemic.

Other policy trends, such as the focus on national payment systems, remained consistent with previous years with five policy changes reported. Specifically, Fiji and Uganda introduced their respective National Payment System Act in 2020 aimed at boosting payments through digital solutions. In addition, Mozambique and Uganda were formulating their regulatory frameworks and supervision on FinTech.

An interesting policy and regulatory reform reported by The Bahamas was the launch of its digital currency, Sand Dollar, nationwide in 2020. The Central Bank of the Bahamas piloted its Central Bank Digital Currency “Project Sand Dollar” in December 2019 and made revisions to relevant legislations in order to provide the regulatory framework for its digital currency.