DUSHANBE, February 4, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Issues related to development of mobile banking and prospects of launching it in Tajikistan will be discussed in Dushanbe on February 6, according to International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Office in Dushanbe.

IFC’s Office is expected to present the results of a new survey on the spread of mobile banking in compliance with international principles and standards.

Mobile banking is a system that allows customers of a financial institution to conduct a number of financial transactions through a mobile device such as a mobile phone or personal digital assistant.  The earliest mobile banking services were offered over SMS, a service known as SMS banking. With the introduction of smart phones with WAP support enabling the use of the mobile web in 1999, the first European banks started to offer mobile banking on this platform to their customers.

Mobile banking is used in many parts of the world with little or no infrastructure, especially remote and rural areas.  This aspect of mobile commerce is also popular in countries where most of their population is unbanked.  In most of these places, banks can only be found in big cities, and customers have to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest bank.