DAY 1 – 30 April 2009
Speakers:
Special addresses by
Session 1 – The banking world in the middle of a crisis - Perspectives and impact for financial inclusion
This session aimed at analyzing the effects and impact of the current financial crisis on retail banking markets and the real economy, in developed and developing countries, and envisage the global response needed and the role that savings banks can play to restore confidence and stabilize markets. It also looked at the topic of financial inclusion in this particular context, which will at the same time increase the vulnerability of the most precarious categories of the population and increase the commercial and regulatory pressure on financial institutions.
Chair: José Antonio Olavarrieta, President WSBI
Speakers:
- Marcio Percival, Vice-President in charge of Finance, Caixa Econômica Federal, Brazil
- Claudio González-Vega, Director Rural Finance Program, Ohio State University, USA
- Elisabeth Littlefield, CEO, CGAP
- Wilmer Infante, Director, Federación Peruana de Cajas Municipales de Ahorro y Crédito (FEPCMAC), Peru
- Seung-Tae Lim, Commissioner, Financial Services Commission, Korea
Session 2 – Achieving financial inclusion through savings and retail banking activities
This session focused on the definition of savings and socially committed retail banks’ vision of inclusive finance, given the impact of globalisation on their market conditions and their product and service offer. It also discussed how they can build on their assets (e.g. decentralised networks, involvement in remittances activities, microcredit, financial education etc) to further enhance their leadership in providing access to finance to the largest parts of the population.
Chair: José Luis Mardones, President BancoEstado, Chile
Speakers:
- Hector Pacheco, Gerente Comercial, BancoEstado Microempresas, Chile
- Jeroo Billimoria, Executive Director, Aflatoun
- Enrique Goñi Beltrán de Garizurieta, Director General, Caja Navarra, Spain
- Richard L. Meyer, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University, USA
- Fernando Peña, Managing Director, Banrural, Guatemala
- Prakash Bakshi, Executive Director, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), India
Session 3 – Financial inclusion from an international and regional perspective
This session looked at progress made to improve financial inclusion, from an international and regional perspective. It highlighted successful regional and international solutions launched, and seek to define how best policy and initiatives developed at global level can be combined with a regional/national approach.
Chair: Chris De Noose, WSBI Managing Director
Speakers:
- Armando Rosales, President, Federación de Cajas de Crédito y Bancos de los Trabajadores (Fedecrédito), El Salvador
- Esteban Pérez Caldentey, Economic Affairs Officer, Chief of the Development Studies Unit, UN Economic Commission for LAC (ECLAC)
- Marcel Hipszman, President International Association of Investors in the Social Economy
- Stephen Mukweli, Managing Director, Postbank, Uganda
PARALLEL WORK SESSIONS
4.1. Technological innovation, the magic wand for sustainable progress of financial inclusion?
This interactive session looked at how innovation and technology can support the provision of adapted financial services in an efficient manner, and how they can help retail financial players to adapt to the new needs of their clients, with a view to reach full financial inclusion. It also assessed if and how this should have an impact on banks’ business strategy, in terms of alliances with technology companies for example.
Moderator: Yongyuth Tariyo, Senior Executive Vice President, Government Savings Bank, Thailand
Panellists:
- Nyambura Koigi, Managing Director, Kenya Post Office Savings Bank
- Hernán Saavedra, Gerente de Canales Electrónicos, BancoEstado, Chile
- Xavier Faz, Senior Technical Advisor, CGAP
- Seema Desai, Programme Manager Mobile Money for the Unbanked, GSM Association
- Rodrigo Evangelista de Castro, IT Manager, Caixa Econômica Federal, Brazil
4.2. Contribution to social and financial inclusion through CSR, philanthropy and foundations initiatives
This interactive session explored how savings banks contribute to improving social and financial inclusion through their CSR initiatives, including through their philanthropy activities. The involvement and key role played by savings banks’ foundations in this field was specifically highlighted, with a focus on how the social and community investment activities of the institutions represented strengthen and support the social and financial inclusion efforts developed by the savings banks.
Moderator: Joël Guerriau, Director General, Fédération Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne, France
Panellists:
- Marc Pfitzer, Managing Director, FSG Social Impact Advisors
- Eduardo Villar, Corporate Vice President of Fundación Social and Chairman of BCSC, Colombia
- Antonio Pulido, President, Caja de Ahorros de Sevilla, Spain
- S.P.R. Perera, General Manager/CEO, National Savings Bank, Sri Lanka
- Mario Geymonat, Director, Foundation of Venice, Italy
- Jürgen Hilse, Chairman of the Board of the Savings Bank of Göppingen, Germany
DAY 2 – 1 May 2009
Session 5 – Looking Forward – A roadmap for the 10 coming years
Based on experiences developed by savings and socially committed retail banks and other public and private actors, this session focused on lessons learnt and seeked to identify the key success factors to improve further the level of financial inclusion. It aimed at defining the core steps needed to enlarge financial access and contribute to alleviation of poverty, taking into account the international economic, financial, social and societal evolving context.
Chair: Jose Antonio Olavarrieta, President WSBI
Speakers:
- Beatriz Armendariz, Lecturer in Economics, Harvard University, USA
- Eulalia Arboleda de Montes, President, Banco BCSC, Colombia
- Robert Christen, Director, Finance for the Poor programme, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Juan Buchenau, Senior Financial Sector Specialist of the LAC Region, World Bank
Conclusions and Closing
This session presented the conclusions and main messages of the Congress, which underline the commitment of savings and socially committed retail banks to pursue their two-fold objective of offering accessible products and services to all layers of the society, while being efficient and competitive market players in an increasingly globalised environment, based on their sustainable business model.
Speakers: