Page 247 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

5 Policy Considerations

As noted, this report explores whether eMoney in agricultural value chains can accelerate digital liquidity. This
topic should interest strategists and policy makers developing eMoney roadmaps relying on various use cases
(value chains, school payments, etc.).

Value chains are just one use case for furthering digital liquidity. Accordingly, strategists and policy makers
should focus on the overall goal of digital liquidity and evaluate a range of use cases (including value chains)
when creating a roadmap.

Figure 12 – Example of eMoney roadmap

With that in mind, the authors recommend strategists and policy makers consider the following issues:

• Understand where your constituents are within the eMoney journey and identify primary barriers to
further adoption. Barriers could include poor mobile coverage, mobile money fees, interoperability issues,
poor agent coverage, lack of compelling use cases, awkward user experiences, and limited merchant
acceptance, among other reasons.
• Determine the most appropriate interventions and/or use cases to further drive adoption.
– Are value chains a good fit? Do tight value chains exist to any significant degree within the planner’s
region? Is there an eMoney value proposition stakeholders will care about (reduction in theft, safety,
lending opportunities, etc.)?

– Are other use cases more appropriate? For example, would school payments or government transfers
(e.g., fertilizer subsidies) be more appropriate because of wider reach or alignment with other
priorities?
– Can use cases be sequenced to better balance eMoney receipts and uses? As individuals receive
eMoney, they need a near-equivalent opportunity to use that eMoney for schools, groceries, loan
repayments, and other expenses. Without an equal opportunity, users must cash-out (or cash-in).
• Make eMoney work within targeted use cases. The solution must be robust and tailored to the use
case. Ultimately, the eMoney option must be better than cash for all influential stakeholders. Design
considerations include:

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