UPU forum mobile technologies as a catalyst for financial inclusion by post

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UPU - Postal Financial Services Worldwide Electronic Postal Payment Network

IFS Mobile Extensions

UPU Forum: Mobile Technologies as a catalyst for financial inclusion by Posts

5 November 2014 - PTC, David Avsec


IFS goes mobile!


• A worldwide, secured network dedicated to postal money transfers, supporting any type of payment (cash/account/speed). With:

• Three technical solutions, adapted to any kind of volume and IT environment: IFS, IFS.post (cloud solution), STEFI (gateway)

• A clearing house and an automated settlement solution (USD/EUR)

• Online services:

• For quality monitoring and control, real time (QCS)

• A compendium of services, to facilitate commercial and operational relationships between members of the network

• A system to manage and settle exceptions/claims, the Financial Electronic Inquiry System (FEIS)

All these IT solutions are owned by the users. The UPU is providing the technology and is not a payment service provider taking a commission on every transaction. Users are therefore autonomous to decide on the payment services they provide, and can offer the best possible transfer costs to populations.

Reminder. IFS is:


Our technologies were already deployed in many countries where:

• Most of the populations live in rural areas

• Posts are present in rural areas, but suffer from weak infrastructures:

• Electricity (not permanent, or instable)

• Internet not always available

• Landline phones also not always there

Challenge was to answer the request from our users, and:

Bring a technology to these rural post offices, so they can be online and provide a powerful, secured, basic financial service:

the possibility to transfer money (domestically and internationally) quickly, and at low costs

Environment and challenges


…Challenges turned into a set of requirements:

• Highly secured solution

• Easy to deploy (and upgrade in the future)

• User friendly, easy to use (including with multi-language support)

• For all types of payments, international and domestic

• To complement, but also in some cases replace, the existing technologies (desktop application, Web application)

• Independent of any mobile phone network

• Flexible and ready for future developments:

• to become an integrated “light” point of sales on mobile devices

• to reach customers’ devices for autonomous mobile payments

…and all this without increasing the IFS yearly costs for user DO

Requirements


We chose to develop an App for smartphones and tablets:

• Android platform (other platforms in the future if required by our users)

• Backbone remains the IFS national database of the DO: the App is an additional interface to the IFS system

We chose to go for total paperless operations:

• Receipts to customers take the form of an SMS

• Notification messages also sent via SMS

Solution


Live demonstration


Architecture and data flows

Beneficiary

Sender

Sending Operator

Paying Operator

Phone call, or SMS, to notify of money transfer

Money order instructions

Notification SMS

Clearing House

Electronic receipt by SMS

Quality of Service

Settlement Bank

Mobile payment platform: a good background infrastructure is needed


IFS access points

IFS now offers the following access points to send/receive payments:

In post office

Web Application

Mobile App

Cash payments, customer without

any kind of account

Internet/Mobile Banking

Example: web portal of La Banque Postale in France

Example: mobile App of Al Barid Bank in Morocco

Money transfers from/to accounts, with the front end

(web portal, mobile App) developed by the DO

What’s Next?

Continue to integrate post office transactions (financial, mail, logistics, eCommerce) into a simple POS system delivered as a mobile App

Develop a mobile wallet solution (access to mobile finance for the customers without accounts)


Postal Organization UPU Backbone

Interfaces

IFS Technologies

Partners

MTO

Money Transfer

Operator

MMO

Mobile Money

Operator

Bank

CPS

Card Payment System

Light (Cloud) Banking system

eWallet system

Postal

Hub

POS system

Mobile solutions

Future evolutions 1

Development of partnerships

Payment Services:

Other Posts

MTOs

MMOs

Banks

CPS


Domestic money transfers

International money transfers

eCommerce payments(COMPAS)

Pre-payment, escrow Service

Clearing

Cloud banking solutions

Mobile wallet/transfers/payments

Other networks

Card payments

Other Online Services

Electronic Customs declarations

Prohibitions & restrictions detection

Postal and transport security checks

Landed costs calculations

International mail processing

Accounting of international services

Processing of returned mail items

Financial Services

Airlines systems

Customs systems

Mail and Logistic Services

Post*Code database

Postal address validation

Global track and trace

Postal export guide

Other online publications

Global repository of postal eShops (GLORYPOSE)

Quality of service

Inquiries and claims

SME / Merchants

.po

st

Post*Net Mail - Post*Net Finance

Customers Service Access Points

Post office

Home via PC or mobile

Identification

Post ID

Interfaces

Interfaces

IFS IPS + CDS

Future evolutions 2

eCommerce postal platform


78% of countries signatory to the Postal Payment Services Agreement will use the IFS

family in 2014/2015

131 countries can be reached including partner networks

• 69 Posts in production • 8 Posts in advanced test

• 14 Posts have started planning • 117 signatory countries of PPSA

Users in production (Oct 2014)

Advanced testing

Planning started

Connectable through partner (Instant Cash and Eurogiro)

The UPU’s payment network

Service deployment


Thank you for your attention!

Contacts:

David Avsec

Account Relationship Coordinator

Deputy Director, PTC

+41 31 350 35 41

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

UPU forum mobile technologies as a catalyst for financial inclusion by post

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