UPU member countries attending the 28th Universal Postal Congress have approved changes to the organization’s multilateral framework for postal financial services, extending the UPU’s support to a wider set of optional postal financial services.
The UPU’s Postal Payment Services Agreement (PPSA) has traditionally governed the exchange of postal payments via the postal network. Amendments adopted at the Congress enable designated operators to expand responsibly into areas such as savings, insurance, e-wallets and other financial services, with implementation remaining voluntary and subject to national law. The Agreement also enables the UPU to provide capacity-building support on these services.“The main objective behind bringing these postal financial services [into the PPSA] is to ensure that the benefits of informed financial services choices reach the last mile,” said Lakshmikanta Dash, who represents India as chair of the Congress committee responsible for postal financial services.
The decision will also support postal operators as they seek to diversify their service portfolios, generating new revenues to offset losses in letter-mail business and enabling them to continue to keep services affordable and widely accessible.
The decision builds upon an earlier one taken by the UPU’s 2023 Extraordinary Congress allowing the interconnection of wider postal financial services players with the UPU’s payments network. Partnerships with the wider sector will be key to the quick and inclusive roll-out of diverse financial services through the postal network in a technology-driven competitive market.
Pushing forward digital payments
This Congress provided an opportunity to highlight success stories on interconnection and other partnerships on postal financial services across the UPU network via two round table discussions.
The first round table featured new digital payment solutions delivered through public–private partnerships. Representatives from Visa Inc., Ant Group and National Payments Corporation of India International Payments Limited discussed successful projects launched in cooperation with the UPU, as well as those in the pipeline.
For Visa’s Government Solutions branch, Global Partnerships Head Louise Holden highlighted how the company envisioned boosting financial inclusion through payment and savings solutions, payment acceptance for merchants, and identity and financial education services offered through the postal network. She noted that some of this work had been accomplished through the UPU’s Financial Inclusion Technical Assistance Facility (FITAF), which was seeking partner Posts for its second round of capacity-building projects in the new cycle. Visa was also exploring how the company could integrate with the UPU’s postal payments network and noted that the UPU and Visa were working together on cybersecurity.
The UPU and Ant Group recently signed a memorandum of understanding facilitating joint work on digital literacy to promote digital financial inclusion through the postal network. Leiming Chen, Senior Vice President of Ant Group, also presented how it could help postal operators launch e-commerce platforms and digital payment solutions.
Dash, who serves as Deputy Director General of International Relations and Global Business at India Post, presented how links between the UPU’s network and the Unified Payment Interface had enabled access to quick, affordable mobile remittance services.
Inclusive insurance for all
A second round table zeroed in on postal inclusive insurance, featuring presentations from AXA Insurance and CNP Assurances.
Aïcha Hassouna-Auclair, Postal Inclusive Insurance Lead with AXA EssentiALL, presented the insurer’s strategy to close protection gaps via the postal network, highlighting partnerships with the UPU and several postal operators. Following the successful FITAF model, the UPU and AXA are also launching a Postal Insurance Technical Assistance Facility (PITAF) for projects that support postal operators in creating, expanding or diversifying their inclusive insurance services.
CNP Assurances explained how its work with Brazil’s Correios combined the company’s reputation as a trustworthy insurance provider with the Post’s distribution network – the largest in the country – to deliver inclusive insurance.
Later, Minoush Ameguid, Chief Executive Officer of Sawa JV, shared her experience launching the joint venture between AXA and Egypt Post to implement insurance services.
Participants also heard about successful public–private partnerships launched by the designated operators of Tunisia and Morocco.