Postal Accounts Spur Savings for Development.

• Position: Brief Article

In search of new funding for development, an old form of savings institution--postal savings accounts--is being given a new look by development experts. A study of postal savings accounts has been launched in preparation for the conference on "Financing for Development", which will take place in 2001. The conference is aimed at exploring and unlocking additional resources that would promote development, especially in the world's poorest countries. Often privatized or phased out in industrialized countries, postal savings accounts have been a poor person's banking system in several countries for well over 100 years. Postal savings systems currently operate in over 60 countries, while 44 countries operate "giro" account systems, similar to checking...