mobile money
Posted by MohiniBhavsar on Nov 10, 2010
In this two-part series, MobileActive.org explores how mobile money services can support health care in developing countries. In part one, we described the key ways in which mobile money services can be adopted by the health sector.
At the primary level of care, subscription-based mobile payment services can create two-way links between patients and health care providers, as summarized here.
- Patients can pay service providers directly for health care services delivered.
- Service providers can use mobile transfer platforms to reward patients with monetary or airtime incentives for treatment compliance.
At the district, regional, and national levels, governments and organizations can improve management of funds and introduce better checks and balances by using mobile money platforms. Some uses include:
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Nov 01, 2010
Is mobile money living up to the hype? Does it provide more and better financial services for low-income and poor people? Our great friends over at CGAP, the definitive source on credible research on mobile money and branchless banking, have gathered data on 16,000 mobile money customers in seven coutries to understand better how far branchless banking is reaching the unbanked. The results are published in a new CGAP paper.
As fas as we know, this is the first time such an extensive data set has been collected. It sought to answer three questions: Is mobile banking reaching poor customers? Is it more affordable than traditional banking? And lastly, do customers get what they want?
The CGAP researchers looked at 18 branchless banking providers with more than 50 million customers in 10 countries. What did they find?
Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Oct 05, 2010
Today's Mobile Minute is focused on mobile money. We've got news about Bharti's financial services in India, Rwanda's new mobile banking guidelines, Digicel's plan for mobile financial services in Haiti, ICT growth from 1998 to 2009, and the popularity of native apps on smartphones.
- Digicel, a Caribbean telecom, announced they will launch a mobile banking pilot project in Haiti, starting this October. The pilot will allow users to transfer funds and give and receive cash via mobiles.
- ICT4Dblog charted how ICTs have grown around the world, ranking mobile, Internet, and broadband growth over an 11-year period. The site then looked at how these numbers show the digital gap between rich and poor countries, and then reported on: "digital lag: the time gap between a given average ICT penetration level in the poorest countries, and the year that was achieved in the richest countries. Current digital lag is just under 10 years for mobile, and something like 14-15 years for Internet. For broadband, it’s just over 10 years but the figures are so low that this may not be meaningful."
[Mobile Minute Disclaimer: The Mobile Minute is a quick round-up of interesting stories that have come across our RSS and Twitter feeds to keep you informed of the rapid pace of innovation. Read them and enjoy them, but know that we have not deeply investigated these news items. For more in-depth information about the ever-growing field of mobile tech for social change, check out our blog posts, white papers and research, how-tos, and case studies.]
Image courtesy Flickr user QiFei
Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Aug 11, 2010
Today's Mobile Minute covers the unfolding BBM security controversy, Ushahidi's new Crowdmap online platform, a roundup of mobile apps for the disabled, a break down of what mobile ownership numbers actually mean, and the take-away on mobile remittances from the Tech@State conference.
Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Feb 22, 2010
Author:
Dipankar Datta, Anne Ejakait, Kim Scriven
Abstract:
Kenya was one of the first countries to use mobile phones for cash transfers; through a service called M‐PESA, developed by Safaricom Limited. Concern Worldwide has pioneered the use of M‐PESA for emergency cash transfers in Kenya. This paper highlights Concern’s experience, which shows that despite initial software and logistical challenges, mobile phone technology offers a unique and empowering approach to efficiently deliver assistance to the most vulnerable people living in insecure and remote rural areas.
Experience also shows that cash transfers are a better option than food distributions in areas where adequate supplies of food are locally available. In addition, the partnership between Concern and Safaricom demonstrates that the private sector has significant and unique abilities to enhance the effectiveness of emergency response, and more importantly they can do so while maintaining their core business principles. The case study also demonstrates how technology can empower poor, marginalised and vulnerable people.
Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Nov 03, 2009
Author:
Gunnar Camner, Emil Sjoblom, Caroline Pulver
Abstract:
This review considers the differences between the adoption rates of M-PESA in Kenya and Tanzania and tries to highlight some of the reasons that the same service launched in seemingly similar countries has yielded such different results. This paper is intended as a discussion document for mobile network operators considering launching a mobile money service.
Safaricom launched M-PESA in Kenya in March 2007 and has since become the most famous and probably the most successful implementation of mobile money service to date. In May 2008, 14 months after the launch, M-PESA in Kenya had 2.7 million users and almost 3,000 agents. Today, over two years since its launch, M-PESA has gained 7 million registered customers and has 10,000 agents spread across the country. This exceeds the reach of any other financial service in Kenya.
Finaccess 2009 showed that M-PESA has become the most popular method of money transfer in Kenya with 40% of all adults using the service. The same Kenyan survey also shows a dramatic increase in national remittances; from 17% in 2006 to 52% in 2009, which may be attributed to the ease of money transfer through ubiquitous M-PESA agents. Many mobile network operators have been eager to repeat M-PESA’s success in Kenya, but the formula for this success is not yet clear. One year after the Kenyan launch, Vodacom launched M-PESA in April 2008 in Tanzania. The user uptake of the service in Tanzania has been much slower compared to its northern neighbour. In June 2009, 14 months after the launch, M-PESA in Tanzania had 280,000 users and 1,000 agents (Rasmussen 2009).