The SADC Banking Association (SADC BA)
supports Instant and Inclusive Payment
Systems (IIPS) capacity building initiative
within the SADC region for SADC participants.
Capacity Building Opportunity: Join the Instant and
Inclusive Payment Systems Certificate Program
In recent years, instant payments systems have been planned and launched in many countries, some with a commitment to expand financial inclusion (known by the acronym “IIPS” – instant and inclusive payment systems). The central idea behind this approach is that being able to send and receive low-value payments at any time, and at a very low cost, facilitates the use of transaction accounts and serves as a gateway to other financial products and services. In this scenario, IIPSʼs offer people more control over their financial resources, and serve some of the previously unmet financial management needs of the “informal majority”, a significant portion of the world population who earn their incomes in the informal economy and typically handle transactions in cash.
Why IIPS?
The demand for instant payments has taken a new urgency in recent weeks as the global Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in a reduced use of cash, and as many countries consider expanding social welfare programs to protect their citizens against the economic effects of the pandemic, and in this context of cash transfer programs, use cases for IIPS becomes more evident. IIPSʼs bring together many finance-related disciplines and dimensions – not least of which is technological – but which also include the development of a regulatory framework the includes effective consumer protection measures and the creation of valid and attractive use cases. At Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI), we have been spending a lot of time researching and thinking about IIPS recently because, as we are pleased to announce, we have recently launched a new professional capacity building program in instant and inclusive payment systems with the support of the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation.
We invite you to join the Instant and Inclusive Payments (IIPS) program. The IIPS program is a new, independent program (not connected to the CDFP Program offered by Digital Frontiers Institute), through which you can earn the IIPS Foundations Certificate, an advance to specialized IIPS courses and an IIPS capstone seminar with a 100% scholarship.
How Does it Work?
The program is structured in two tiers. First, a foundation certificate, that includes the background, concepts, architecture, and implementation guidelines for planning and launching a country-level digital financial payment system designed with financial inclusion principles. The core material is built on learnings and publications developed through the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundationʼs Level One Project. Second, for digital finance professionals who require more specialized skills and knowledge, a set of courses on enabling regulation, technical aspects of building IIPS infrastructure and business and operations in relation to IIPS.
We invite you to register today, at no cost, for Introduction to IIPS
Steps in the journey IIPS journey:
Step 1:
Complete Introduction to IIPS, an online, self-paced course designed to prepare you to sit the Foundations Exam (professionals who already have foundational knowledge in interoperable payments may choose to skip this step).
Step 2:
Sit the IIPS Foundations Exam, a proctored, 50-question multiple choice exam leading to the IIPS Foundations Certificate.
Step 3:
After passing the exam and you are certified, you can develop your knowledge with the specialization(s) of your choice: Regulating and Governing IIP Systems, Launching and Operating IIP Systems, and Designing and Deploying Technology for IIP Systems, with a 100% scholarship. These online, synchronous courses will be offered twice a year. These are the dates for 2021
| Cohort 1 | Cohort 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application Deadline | Start Date | Application Deadline | Start Date | |
| Regulating & Governing IIP Systems | 24 January | 29 January | 12 September | 17 September |
| Launching & Operating IIP Systems | 2 May | 7 May | 3 October | 8 October |
| Designing & Deploying Technology for IIP Systems | 13 June | 18 June | 17 October | 22 October |
Step 4:
Gain global perspective through an IIPS Capstone Seminar alongside other IIPS graduates, which will take place in early 2021.
Register now
Please join us today! Registering for Introduction to IIPS is easy, just
click here and follow the steps indicated. If you have any questions,
you can reach us at: admissions@digitalfrontiers.com
