This study provides an assessment of financial services associated with the post office network, obtainable in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) regions. The rationale for doing assessments is to provide easier and broader access to financial services. A significant difference between Latin America and other continents is that mail markets have been de facto liberalized and deregulated for 15 years. Governments in the Latin American and Caribbean region are increasingly rethinking the rationale of maintaining and operating public postal networks. Several public postal operators and governments in the region have initiated postal reform programs, varying from privatization, to management contracts, to commercialization to quality improvement programs. These programs have not identified developing financial services in the post offices as a key priority. The report concludes that partnering with financial institutions that share the postal networks, could significantly contribute to the commercial and economic sustainability of postal networks in the LAC region.
