Tag Archives: business model

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, consumer income, credit cards, financial inclusion, irregular incomes, marketing, prepaid business model, prepaid economy, unbanked, united states | Leave a comment

Introducing The Global Prepaid Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 10, 2015

This week, that venerable newspaper The Financial Times, published an original piece of writing on the World Economic Forum’s Agenda blog. Its not a reprint from their own publication. It proposes the end of “Emerging Markets” (EM) as we know them: Now, commentators say, it is the world’s mental map that is in dire need […]

Posted in Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frugality, global, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Strategy, User research | Also tagged emerging markets, global, mobile, mobile phones, prepaid, prepaid economy, smartphones, The prepaid economy | Leave a comment

A design challenge for agric service innovation in rural Africa

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 22, 2013

Find a way to embed principles of sustainable good agriculture for the smallscale farmer in a socio-economically beneficial way. How would we do this? Where do we begin? The answers to these questions and more will be forthcoming on this blog. I reach out and encourage you all to consider submitting your thoughts and opinions […]

Posted in Africa, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Flexibility, Frameworks, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mobile platform, Research, rural, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research, Value | Also tagged agriculture, design, design challenge, prepaid, prepaid economy, rural economy, vcd | Leave a comment

Part 3: Synthesis and Insights from original research on rural economic behaviour

By Niti Bhan | Published: October 31, 2013

One can conclude from synthesizing the data collected across the geographies and the range of “BoP” income levels that rural households demonstrated similar patterns of behaviour in their management of household expenses on irregular income streams. These are: the rapid conversion of cash into tangible assets such as goods or livestock, the subsequent storage of […]

Posted in Africa, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Livestock, Projects and Reports, Research, Rural Economy, User research | Also tagged bop, bop marketing, buyer behaviour, consumer insights, livestock, payment plans, prepaid economy, Purchasing patterns, rural economy, user research | Leave a comment

Why prepaid business models work so well for the rural and informal economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 2, 2013

We broke down the basic concept of the ‘pay as you go’ or prepaid mobile plan – in general, discounting the details of the various different strategies and pricing/time plans of different countries as a way to begin understanding what is it about this model that makes it work at the BoP. Could we somehow […]

Posted in Analysis, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Expenses, Flexibility, Frameworks, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, Rural Economy, User research | Also tagged cash flow, cash transactions, flexibility, irregular incomes, money, pay as you go, prepaid, prepaid economy, time | Leave a comment

In sum

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 16, 2012

Irregular income streams from a variety of sources pose their own challenges to both buyers and sellers but offer an opportunity through the flexibility designed into business models for the informal economies where this pattern of cash flow tends to be much more prevalent. Flexibility is key, as well as the ability to negotiate on […]

Posted in Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Flexibility, global, Income, Informal & Flexible, Research, Strategy, User research, Value | Also tagged flexibility, framework, informal economy, payment plans, prepaid, principles, schema | Leave a comment

Cashpower: prepaid electricity in Rwanda

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 19, 2012

Maarja Motus, an Estonian designer and my recent intern spent 3 weeks in Rwanda recently conducting some research on my behalf. Here’s an extract from her report on Cashpower, the Rwandese term for prepaid electricity. An electricity agent (Cashpower agent) next to Kigali market has 300 customers, only 10 of them buy for whole month […]

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Expenses, Informal & Flexible, Mobile platform, Research, Strategy, urban, User research, Value | Also tagged cashpower, informal economy, prepaid electricity, rwanda | Leave a comment

Innovations in transport business models across Europe

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 4, 2012

Spotted outside the Zuid Park Business Center in Amsterdam, this is a taxi stand cum charging station for electric vehicles. And its not the only one, as I saw the same taxis waiting at Schiphol airport. They were asking half the price of a regular taxi for the trip to the center of town. In […]

Posted in Business Models, Culture, Design, Ecosystem, Innovation Planning, Perspective, Photography, Systems, urban, User research | Also tagged europe, innovation, transportation, urban | Leave a comment

Bridging the gap: boundary spanners in the informal economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 14, 2012

My recent diversion into exploring the increasing visibility of the informal economy in the developed world has been providing much food for thought on the perceived boundary between the formal and the informal. More so, than in Europe, does the need exist among the most economically challenged across the still developing world for ways and […]

Posted in Assumption filter, Business Models, Culture, Economy, global, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Research, Strategy, User research, Value | Also tagged boundary spanner, bridge, formal, hybrid, informal, innovation, opportunity, prepaid | Leave a comment

The Informal Economy Symposium, Barcelona on October 12th 2012

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 13, 2012

Our aim with this symposium is to explore the global scope, innovations and potential futures of the informal economy. Opening Keynote will be John Keith Hart, who coined the term “informal economy” and the day long symposium on the 12th of October will be closed by John Thackara. There will be three panel discussions, as […]

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, global, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mobile platform, Research, Strategy, User research, Value | Also tagged bottom of the pyramid, flexible, informal, informal business, informal economy, informal sector, micro-finance, mpesa, pay as you go, prepaid, prepaid economy, reculture, research, system D, trust | Leave a comment