Page 3 - CBM24V1.1

~ Welcome ~

FOREWORD

I’m seeing this happen all over the world. In southeast Asia,
GrabPay, which began as a popular food delivery and taxi
app, has become a leading payment method in the region,
with 115 million people paying with their e-wallet. In Brazil,
which has a high cellphone penetration, we see that the
mobile bank transfer method PIX is used by 110 million
people, half of the population, and has actually turned many
shoppers into online shoppers in a short space of time. Then,
Poland has BLIK, which is a mobile payment method used by
Poles in over 74% of their e-commerce transactions.

All of these examples highlight what we, in the payments
industry, like to call ‘digital local payment methods.’ These are
used in 77% of online transactions and are key to connecting
buyers and sellers across borders. This is especially important
because we’re about to see an explosion in cross-border
e-commerce as consumers are set to spend trillions of dollars
CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS ARE online.
A KEY DRIVER OF FINANCIAL
INCLUSION What this means is that if you want to sell globally, you need
to first think locally, as digital local payment methods get
people online, giving them the means to access e-commerce.
hat may come as a surprise to you is that cross- But like anything linked to commerce, the tech running
border payments play a key role in boosting behind the scenes is complex. Especially when we’re talking
Wfinancial inclusion for many people via cross- about doing anything around cross-border payments:
border e-commerce. delivering digital local payment methods, adhering to
different compliance and regulation, and making sure
I’ll explain. Back in 2011, when the World Bank started its everything related to fraud and risk is taken care of. But
database on financial inclusion, around half of people globally luckily, there are services out there that bring all of this
had some form of bank account. After the pandemic hit and together where payment players can have full control and
kicked everything digital into high gear, that jumped to 76% oversight over the entire payment process. This is called
in 2021. So now, just under a quarter of people worldwide ‘orchestration,’ and it makes delivering digital local payment
don’t have accounts at banks or other financial institutions methods possible as a result, it contributes to making
or with mobile money providers. But what more and more financial inclusion a reality by helping businesses tap into
people with accounts are doing is receiving and making new markets. It’s just one solution, but I’m hopeful that, as an
digital payments. A staggering two-thirds of adults around industry, we will keep progressing in how we bring services to
the world use digital payments, and this number is only going customers in a way that better serves the needs of both.
to grow.

This not only gives them more control over their lives but Laura Rofe
creates economic growth by bringing more savings, lending, Director of Partner Development at PPRO
cash management, and commerce into the formal financial
services system.

For example, in Kenya, although only 56% of people have
bank accounts, over 60% have smartphones. Along comes
M-Pesa, which creates a mobile payment method that turns
cell phones into digital bank accounts, increasing the number
of people that have access to financial services.

3