To: " • [[email protected]] From: Sent: Sat 4/12/2014 3:55:49 PM Subject: fyi `Digital Finance' —A Means to Empower the Poor via New Technologies Innovators and panel of private and public sector leaders assure universal access to finance within reach if new technologies are harnessed By Christopher Colfoni, FPD and Sona Panajyan, IFC Advisory Services Jn-Yong Cai. IFC executive vice ;fondant and CEO welcome Partni:ents to the "Opal Finance" secular at the 2014 Spnnp Meetngs April 10, 2014—Digital solutions and new technologies offer great potential to overcome massive development challenges and will contribute towards the World Bank Group achieving the goal of universal access to financial services by 2020, according to several speakers at a Spring Meetings seminar yesterday. With 2.5 billion people in developing countries deprived of access to formal financial services and more than 200 million small businesses lacking access to the financing they need to grow—expanding access to finance remains a challenge. *The benefits of digital finance extend well beyond conventional financial services: this can also be a powerful tool and an engine for job creation in developing countries," said IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Jin- Yong Cai, as he opened the forum, co-sponsored by IFC, World Bank and CGAP, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. The forum—moderated by CGAP director and CEO Tilman Ehrbeck—showcased companies that are implementing innovations in the digital finance space and was followed by a panel of private sector leaders and government representatives who discussed how these innovations can be taken to scale in developing countries. Innovators from such firms as bKash, Airtel Money-Africa and Mobisol described how their businesses are tackling major development challenges by deploying various approaches to digital finance. Kama Ouadir. CEO of bKash loll how the company has touched lie Ives 01 20 percent of adul