MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Papua New Guinea Commits to Digitizing Government Payments

The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) recently committed to shifting all government payments, including government salaries and social protection payments, to electronic form, with the goal of increasing security, transparency, financial inclusion and convenience [1]. To facilitate the effort, PNG has joined the Better Than Cash Alliance, a US-based non-governmental organization that advocates for governments, the private sector and development organizations to electronic payments.

“We are delighted to join Better Than Cash Alliance to accelerate Papua New Guinea’s shift to electronic payments, and thereby rapidly advance financial inclusion for all Papua New Guineans. Using digital tools like mobile and branchless banking will help people build savings while giving the Government a more cost-effective, efficient, transparent and safer means of disbursing and collecting payments,” said Mr Patrick Pruaitch, the country’s Treasury Minister [1].

As of May 2015, the Better Than Cash Alliance has partnerships with national governments of 11 countries, 16 nonprofit development organizations as well as one company from private sector.

By Caroline Zhu, Research Associate

About Better Than Cash Alliance

The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTC) is a US-based nongovernmental organization that was founded in 2012 through a collaboration of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Citigroup, the Ford Foundation, the Omidyar Network, United States Agency for International Development, UN Capital Development Fund and Visa. The purpose of BTC is to promote financial inclusion by facilitating governments, the private sector and the development community in shifting from cash-based payments to electronic payments by providing policy, technical and financial assistance. As of May 2015, BTC has partnerships with national governments of 11 countries, 16 nonprofit development organizations as well as one company from private sector.

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] Better Than Cash Alliance Press Release: “Papua New Guinea commits to digitizing all government payments,” http://betterthancash.org/news-releases/papua-new-guinea-joins-the-better-than-cash-alliance/

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Better Than Cash Alliance

Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/

Similar Posts: