The government of the Solomon Islands recently announced it will attempt to shift to using “electronic payment channels for [80 percent of its] payments and receipts” by 2020. The country’s Minister of Finance and Treasury, Snyder Rini, stated that the goal is motivated by “the opportunities that digital innovation can provide in order for the Government to drive greater efficiency, reach and provide quality services to the public.”
The effort is associated with the country’s joining the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), a UN-affiliated partnership whose core principles are: (1) recognizing the advantages of replacing paper money with electronic payments; and (2) sharing the methods through which this transition can be completed. The Solomon Islands will be assisted in the digitization process by the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program, a Fiji-based initiative of the UN that works to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders.
BTCA was founded in 2012 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Citigroup, the Ford Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the US Agency for International Development, the UN Cooperative Development Foundation and Visa. As of 2017, it has 27 member states and approximately 40 other partners. Financial information on BTCA is not available.
Established in 2008, PFIP seeks to increase the number of Pacific Islanders who have ongoing access to affordable financial services and relevant education. As of June 2017, PFIP has reached 1,600,000 people in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.
By Jacob O’Driscoll, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Information
Solomon Islands Government Commits to Digitization of 80% Of Payments by 2020
http://www.pfip.org/newsroom/press-releases/2017-2/solomon-islands-government-commits-digitization-80-payments-2020/
BTCA
https://www.betterthancash.org/
PFIP
http://www.pfip.org/
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