Tag Archives: prepaid business model

Mobile telephony and low income customers: Market conditions drove product development and pricing

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 25, 2021

Many who were around and as obsessed by the entry of mobile telephony in the global South during the early years of this century will recall this eyecatching graphic used to illustrate the announcement by Cameroonian researchers Victor and Irene Mbarika that can now be pointed to as the moment Africa’s mobile revolution was born: […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Airtime, Assumption filter, Biashara Economics, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Literature review, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Work in Progress | Also tagged africa, mobile phones, strategy, strategy tools, toolmaking | Leave a comment

The Prepaid Economy as a Commercial Operating Environment

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 18, 2019

I have been looking for information the global prepaid mobile subscriber market since yesterday morning. Initially, all I wanted to know was the percentage of prepaid subscribers in China, as I wanted to compare operating environments in major mobile markets like India and China, against the fast growth emergent one in sub Saharan Africa. What […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frugality, Ghana, global, Income, India, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, Philipines, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Also tagged africa, china, digital mobile social ecosystem, digital social economy, ecosystem, emerging markets, india, informal economy, mobile, prepaid economy, south east asia | Leave a comment

Building the Bridge: Design methods for success in the informal economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 24, 2019

The above is a screen cap of my research plan submitted at the end of March 2019 as part of the doctoral admissions process. Everyone understands its only a working title for a yet to be defined problem statement, which is the purpose of doctoral studies as I see it from the user’s perspective. Both […]

Posted in Education, Perspective | Also tagged african digital economy, Building the Bridge, design methods, informal economy, PhD, strategic design planning | Leave a comment

Financial Behaviour Patterns Observed Among Households in Rural Informal Economy in Asia

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 24, 2017

This is the original working paper of the research conducted on rural household financial management, in developing country conditions, pioneering the use of methods from human centered design for discovery, during Nov 2008 to March 2009, aka the Prepaid Economy Project. It was peer reviewed by Brett Hudson Matthews, and I have incorporated his comments into […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Cattle, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, FMCG, Frameworks, global, Income, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Livestock, Marchés africains, Marketing, Migrant worker, Mobile platform, Philipines, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Process, Projects and Reports, Research, Retail in Africa, Risk, rural, Rural Economy, Savings, Scarcity, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research | Also tagged asean, biashara economics, bottom of the pyramid, cash based markets, design research for development, financial management, household finance, india, informal economy, irregular incomes, philippines, prepaid, prepaid economy, research, rural economy, seasonality, south asia, The prepaid economy | Leave a comment

Prepaid Mobile: The Business Model that Empowers

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 15, 2017

It feels like a long time since I last pondered the nuances of the prepaid business model, until I came across some words written by Indian social media researcher Swati Janu. She documented her observations on the infrastructure of insecurity from the tenements of New Delhi. There’s value in reflecting on how our understanding only […]

Posted in Airtime, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Income, India, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, User research, Value | Also tagged affordability, aspirations, biashara economics, cellphone, data, india, mobile, price, smartphone | Leave a comment

First world trends: Financial inclusion, the unbanked, and the prepaid business model

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 15, 2015

The Economist explains just how expensive banking can be for the lower income population, even in the United States. Financial inclusion for the unbanked and underbanked must include cost/benefit analysis based on the limitations of income streams of those whom they hope to serve. The cost of ownership is often overlooked in current day literature, […]

Posted in Analysis, Assumption filter, Banking, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Expenses, Flexibility, Income, Innovation Planning, Marketing, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, urban | Also tagged banking, business model, consumer income, credit cards, financial inclusion, irregular incomes, marketing, prepaid economy, unbanked, united states | Leave a comment

Published! Pathways Out of Poverty by iBoPAsia Project

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 1, 2012

Innovating with the BoP in Southeast Asia. The iBoP Asia Project has published the complete set of small grants funding innovation projects for those at the Bottom of the Pyramid in the ASEAN region. One of the first projects to win the Small Grants competition in 2008 was The Prepaid Economy Project: Understanding BoP household […]

Posted in Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Book Reviews, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Expenses, Flexibility, Frugality, Income, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Literature review, Loans, Perspective, Philipines, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Process, Projects and Reports, Research, Rural Economy, Savings, UCSD, User research | Also tagged bop finance, cash transactions, flexible, household financial management, informal markets, local, Prepaid Economy Project, primary research, project report, social | Leave a comment