The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will this week present proposals intended to encourage a take-up of mobile money services in the developing world.

Meeting on 15 and 16 December, an ITU focus group will present initial findings on three areas: a model MoU for telecoms regulators and central banks; a map showing the responsibilities of stakeholders in creating a regulatory framework for mobile money services; and a set of interoperability tools to assist providers of digital financial services in achieving interoperability with their peers.

“Digital financial services have brought considerable benefits to millions of people. However, with over two billion of the world’s population still unbanked, significant challenges remain,” said ITU secretary-general Houlin Zhao.

“This meeting in Geneva is a key milestone in our programme. For the past year, we have been looking at fostering dialogue to develop a global framework based on international best practice that is flexible enough to be adapted locally,” said Sacha Polverini from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who chaired the focus group on digital financial services.

“These proposed deliverables are the first step in a longer process that will chart a comprehensive roadmap by the end of 2016 to help facilitate the growth of DFS (digital financial services) around the world,” he added.