Design of Digital Financial Services for Inclusion Needs More Respect and Humility to Succeed
In the past week alone, I’ve seen three glaring cases of unquestioned assumptions around the design and implementation of Digital Financial Service (DFS) particularly for financial inclusion, but also otherwise. This gives rise to the question whether the industry is prepared to undertake the mission they have set for themselves. The first is that their […]
Mobile Money’s next challenge: Enabling the development of a cashless ecosystem
The latest GSMA State of the Industry report on Mobile Money is out this month and the numbers look great in the developing world. The report frames the industry’s next challenge as the need to grow the platform beyond the basics of airtime purchase and person to person transfer. Here are my concerns, starting with […]
Cross-border mobile financial services in Africa are going to be huge
Analysis Mason has an excellent article on the next big thing in mobile money across the African continent – cross border payments. I covered the emergence of these services, through regional operators as well as partnerships based on interoperability earlier. This is what I asked for: Mapping it all I’d love it if someone could […]
The importance of the agent/customer relationship for successful financial inclusion
The role of agent networks in East Africa’s mobile money and mobile banking roll-outs is widely documented; as an intermediary, a kiosk exchange point – accepting deposits for e-money/ withdrawals for cash and usajili (registration). “. . .as the first point of contact, human agents help bridge the gap between a high-tech service and low-literacy […]
‘Mpesa si pesa’ – mobile money’s collision with informal sector’s cash culture
Ever since mobile money (MM) came along, ‘cashless’ is all the rage in East Africa. Money experts have a sack-full of reasons why mobile money is good for the economy. The truth is, however, making a case for MM is easy – no doubt, but, one perspective that is often left out in almost all […]
Connecting the Continent: Mobile Money across Africa
With much less fanfare than banking and accounts, a quieter revolution has been taking place on the electronic pathways connecting people in African regions. Historically competitive telcos are shaking hands and joining forces on mobile money. Interoperability has long been a dream and it is only now that we see things starting to take shape. […]
Mobile Money Is Driving Africa’s Cashless Future
This article was written for HBR a few months ago. Here are some key snippets: Three distinct factors are driving this transformation. First and foremost is the desire for financial inclusion. Africa’s unbanked majority needs access to affordable tools for savings, loans, and credit. The second is the need to lower the costs and risk […]
The pros and cons of Kenya’s role as technology pioneer and East African frontier market
Rural Kenyan schoolhouse, somewhere near Kisii, March 2012 Only two years have passed since the publication of the Emerging Africa series of articles for Dirk Knemeyer’s GoInvo blog starting in February 2011. Since then I’ve had a much closer look at Kenya’s current state of the art when it comes to internet diffusion, renewable energy […]
The underlying principle of flexibility
The Economist writes about the proliferation of mobile money across the African continent, high lighting some aspects of its rapid adoption by the local population – 96% of whom are on prepaid or pay as you go mobile subscriptions. A new survey of global financial habits by the Gates Foundation, the World Bank and Gallup […]
Pondering a new prepaid research focus
Ever since I completed the first Prepaid Economy study which looked at how those on irregular income streams managed their household finances – focusing on rural Philippines and India – I’ve been curious about rural Kenya. I’ve long wanted to delve into the impact, if any, of the mobile money systems that have rapidly gained […]
