sada reddy : development of e - money in fiji statement by mr sada reddy, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the launch of the digicel mobile money transfer services, suva, 15 july 2010. * * * executive management & staffs of the digicel fiji limited, members of the media, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. today marks another achievement towards the development of e - money in fiji. i congratulate digicel and its partner flex pacific ( fiji ) for this remarkable achievement, having only entering fiji ’ s cellular phone market in late 2008. the launch of digicel money today is a testament to the people of fiji that digicel is committed to providing competitive services. today we have become a leading country in the pacific region to offer mobile money services, an achievement that the people of fiji should be proud of. mobile money is a quicker, easier and cheaper way of transferring money using mobile phone technology and network and customers will be able to use this service right away. however mobile money also has the capabilities to pay for bills and other goods and services and even has the potential to connect with banks and provide banking services to the unbanked. i believe that digicel has phased its mobile money project and this will become possible in the near future. mobile money service is important for fiji because it is estimated that about 50 percent of fiji ’ s population does not have easy access to financial services. the launching of digicel mobile money service would ensure bringing this number down to an acceptable level given its extensive network coverage. most of you may be aware that the reserve bank launched the “ e - money fiji project ” on 9th of june this year to support the development of mobile money in fiji. we have worked in close consultation and collaboration with the mobile network operators for the orderly and sustainable development of mobile money in fiji. following a provisional licence provided by the rbf early this year, digicel undertook their pilot test phase on mobile money services, which was assessed as successful. i am happy to say that digicel has met all the reserve bank requirements to gain approval for the full launch of digicel mobile money. having said this, i wish to emphasize that the product will only be as useful as its ability to have great penetration in fiji, particularly to the remote and maritime areas. likewise, that the people of fiji are able to witness and experience a reduction in costs for remitting funds domestically through this

therefore doing everything possible to ensure that subsequent consignments do not suffer similar setbacks. in the meantime, we wish to make an earnest appeal to all the banks to assist the bank of zambia in ensuring that faded notes are quickly taken out of circulation, in the same way as soiled banknotes have been handled in the past. the bank of zambia is also going to set up mechanisms for enhancing the process and pace of siphoning faded notes from circulation. international fund for agricultural development mission • an international fund for agricultural development ( ifad ) mission was in the country to solicit comments on the rural finance programme inception report of november 2003 on the development of rural finance. the major findings were that the inception report provided the basis for the provision of rural finance, however, it was noted that the report was limited in scope and was too focused on creating an enabling environment for the provision of rural finance. in addition, the report lacked concrete initiatives for rural finance. in view of this, the mission proposed the following interventions : • support of community based financial institutions ; • rural banking ; • • credit facility for contract farming operations ; • innovation and outreach facility ; and • policy, legislative and management support. as a way forward, the mission agreed to complete a draft formulation report by end - april 2004, hold a stakeholders ’ workshop by end - may 2004 and finalise the formulation report by end - june 2004. the programme appraisal would be conducted by end - september 2004. afraca workshop • a workshop was held in south africa under the auspices of afraca. a number of issues came up but a particular one we would like to encourage in our market is the linked banking. this involves commercial banks entering into arrangements with other institutions, such as, microfinance institutions to extend some form of banking services even to outlying areas. we feel that linked banking provides an opportunity to improve the intermediation role that banks play in an economy. our non - bank financial institutions department will be happy to provide more information on this and other innovative approaches to provision of rural financial services discussed at the said workshop. update on zipss - rtgs implementation • • the project zipss - rtgs implementation team has successfully undertaken the following activities within the project time frame : • development of rtgs policy / position papers ; • delivery, installation of boz rtgs hardware and software ; • conducting of training for boz business and it staff ; • conducting of both business and technical