By CASSEY KAYULA –
FORMER Bank of Kenya governor, Njunga Ndung’u has cited some of the commercial banks’ requirements which hinder financial inclusion in Zambia.
Dr Ndung’u said some of the barriers to financial inclusion were the cost of maintaining accounts, restriction on withdrawal from saving account and minimum balance requirement.
He said these were compounded by weak legal framework and incomplete financial infrastructure like lack of deposit insurance.
He said digital financial services platfrom would provide effective, efficient and safe transparent technology platform for banks to operate in.
Dr Ndung’u said the digital revolution was fundamentally impacting every industry across the board.
“As focus shifts from paper money to digital distribution, the implications for the banking industry are significant,” he said.
He said this at a Press briefing on expanding international best practice to the Zambia digital financial services market in Lusaka yesterday.
Speaking at the same occasion, Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSDZ)  chief executive officer Betty Wilkinson said mobile payments technology was becoming increasingly significant in developing economies,  where low income households and micro enterprises did not have a ready access to financial integration.
And United Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) regional technical specialist Nandini Harihareswara said a readily available market level data was vital to shape the understanding of a country’s digital financial services market.
She said the more and complete and robust the data available,  the more effective the decisions made by leveraging this data would be.
“The goal is to provide industry participants and observes with a more comprehensive picture of the state of the DFS market, regarding customer adoption, usage, agent networks and trends of digital financial services in Zambia, “ she said.