Post your questions now – Mobile Banking for Poor People: Pioneer Perspectives

by Jim Rosenberg : Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Thursday, Dec. 11 from 2pm – 5pm Eastern we’ll have a live webcast from the World Bank in Washington and if you can’t join us in person, join us online here at the CGAP Technology Blog.

We thought it would be great to get some of our partners together to share what they’re doing with each other – and with you. Share your questions at the end of this blog post, as a comment. We’ll put  them to the panelists on Thursday. Here are the details:

Mobile Banking for Poor People: Pioneer Perspectives
a CGAP roundtable and webinar

Dec. 11, 2008 | 2:00pm – 5:00pm
World Bank Headquarters, Washington DC | online at http://technology.cgap.org

Join CGAP for a lively discussion on how mobile phone banking can deliver a range of financial services to poor people and change lives for the better.

By the end of 2008, the UN says there will be four billion mobile phone connections globally. Millions of air-time resellers and retail agents in developing countries make it possible to distribute financial services at far lower cost than through traditional channels.

Yet in many ways, it is still early days for mobile phone banking. Examples of successful large-scale implementations that target poor customers, and deliver products other than payments and transfers are rare. CGAP, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is working to increase the numbers of such successful m-banking projects. CGAP has provided technical advice, market research and funding to the following organizations. The goal is to increase the reach and scale of financial services for poor people worldwide.

Panelists
-Nick Hughes, Vodafone Group
-Rizza Maniego-Eala, Globe Telecom (Philippines)
-Sam Kamiti, Equity Bank (Kenya)
-Ali Abbas Sikander, Tameer Bank (Pakistan)
-Ganhuyag Ch. Hutagt, XacBank (Mongolia)
-Brian Richardson, Wizzit (South Africa)
-Carl Johan Rosenquist, c/o Maldives Monetary Authority (Maldives)

Hear real-world experiences with implementing mobile banking solutions at scale, in multiple markets, with a diverse range of clients.

TAGS: Access To Finance, CGAP, Events, Kenya, Maldives, Mobile Banking, Mongolia, News, Philippines, South Africa

Comments: Comments and trackbacks are open.

15 Comments RSS 2.0

  1. December 10th, 2008 at 10:11 am, Kieron Osmotherly ()

    Telenor Pakistan recently announced they were acquiring a 51% stake in Tameer Bank, subject to regulatory approval.

    Could this be a landmark move in drawing MNOs and the microcredit community into even closer alliances? Do the panel think this might be the first of many such investments?

    Thanks,

    Kieron Osmotherly
    Host, LinkedIn MMT Group
    & Conference Director, MMT09

  • December 10th, 2008 at 11:53 am, Alvaro Martin ()

    First of all, I would like to thank CGAP for giving us the opportunity to participate in such an interesting event.

    Most transformational mobile financial services are focused on payments (top-up, bill payments, P2P money transfers and, eventually, remittances). Some people argue that this strategy only grants limited access to formal financial services and that is still far from full banking services such as credit, remunerated deposits or insurance, where there might be greater potential to improve people’s lives.

    I would like to know the panelists’ opinion on this issue and whether they believe that improvements will be made in 2009.

    Thank you!

  • December 10th, 2008 at 12:47 pm, Harry De Backer ()

    What should the larger donors of ODA do in Africa to get m-banking really going?

    Harry De Backer
    European Commission

  • December 10th, 2008 at 10:12 pm, Peter Goldfinch ()

    Having surveyed the Bangladesh market it became evident that the “Banked” are grossly under served. Approximately 40% of subscribers have a bank account. Of these 40% who receive remittances from abroad, 99+% did so formally. Those that sent remittances domestically, 100% did so informally.
    In such countries should the effort be concentrated on developing the services for the banked and then allow the banked population to grow organically?

  • December 11th, 2008 at 12:13 am, Stephen Greiff ()

    My hypothesis is that there is limited/little latent demand amongst the poor for mobile banking. The need appears to be more for ease of access to ‘life-linked’ transactions …e.g. money transmission;- but only after the core need for communications contactability has been met. Only after satisfying these basic needs with the pervasive cellular technology, in a trusted fashion, will then a need for ‘mobile banking’ potentially evolve?

    What is the panel’s views on this – is the opportunity not first to make the cell-phone relevant to the poor’s circumstances before trying to ‘impose’ banking?

  • December 11th, 2008 at 5:17 am, Stefan Staschen ()

    Considering the huge variance in growth rates across countries, I am wondering what in your view drives growth in mobile banking? Is it the technology used, marketing, availability of existing infrastructure (e.g. easy availability of agent networks), regulation, customer charactistics (literacy, how tech-savvy they are), the competitive landscape, political support, others? If all of this, how would you prioritize the list?

    Stefan Staschen
    CGAP Policy Advisory Consultant

  • December 11th, 2008 at 1:42 pm, Gunnar Camner ()

    In a CGAP blog post (http://technology.cgap.org/2008/07/10/observation-microfinance-institutions-mfis-are-largely-being-left-out-of-branchless-banking/) from the 10th of July a study was mentioned that had discovered a decrease of repayments of loans back to MFIs when the repayments was done via a mobile phone instead of the old group meetings.
    Have you seen more similar problems arise when services is moved into the mobile phone and when it’s difficult to transfer the social behaviours from before into the digital realm? Have you seen any technical solutions aimed at this/these issues?

  • December 11th, 2008 at 2:40 pm, George Thomas ()

    What can be done to move some of the central banks away from the notion that mobile payments can only be offered by banks? The risks can be managed and Mobile Network Operators and Third-Pary Providers can be regulated to eliminate the fear of unmanaged risks but it runs deeper and the central banks are really providing a level of protecion for the banks that believe they are being disenfranchised and payments are their sole domain. Do you agree with this statement?

  • December 11th, 2008 at 2:52 pm, Michael Catalano ()

    How can transactional mobile banking evolve to support innovative savings programs in rural areas?

    Are loyalty mechanisms tying together airtime top-ups and micro-deposits to savings possible through a partnerships between MNOs and SACCOs/MFIs?

    What is the best way for existing MFIs to transform themselves with mobile banking to include mobilization of savings on top of their micro-lending business?

  • December 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pm, François Coupienne ()

    Mobile banking is a business where financial institutions (banks, MFIs) and operators should cooperate. The objective is to put the best business models in place to reach the majority of poor people with adequate offering.
    But financial institutions and operators could also become competitors on this market. This could have a negative impact on the extension of mobile banking.
    What is your opinion as an operator and as a bank/mfi?

  • December 31st, 2008 at 2:46 am, mahipal ()

    But financial institutions and operators could also become competitors on this market. This could have a negative impact on the extension of mobile banking.
    What is your opinion as an operator and as a bank/mfi?

  • January 2nd, 2009 at 6:38 am, Edgar ()

    M-Pesa works like a bank. For banks, customers are protected by the central bank…There is a mandatory reserve by each commercial bank in the central bank so that if the bank “goes under”, the depositors are protected.
    Q: How are customers of M-Pesa protected if M-Pesa “goes under”?

  • July 12th, 2009 at 5:10 am, Alex ()

    I am currently doing research on mobile banking: an alternative distribution channel for microfinance in South Africa. I would appreciate any advice on methodolgy best suited for such an investigation, and articles ralated to such an investigation, and previous methodolgy used in such articles.

    The focus groups of my surveys would be – people form credit sections in banks, microfinance institutions, and mobile banking institutions. my target market is thus not thepublic sector.

  • September 30th, 2009 at 6:13 am, Andrew waiganjo Njuguna ()

    hi i am currently researching in the negative impacts on mobile banking to the traditional banking system in Kenya.
    i would really appreciate if you provide feeds on this specific area.

  • November 5th, 2009 at 12:49 am, Raju shrestha ()

    Hi there,

    Thanks at first for the platform. So far the materials that i have been able to access has focused primarily on the business side aspects. However, i would really appreciate if i could get information on the role that Telco security, cell reception, and quality of network coverage plays in enabling this model…As understood, receipt of SMS is the general way of conforming the transaction, isn’t it?

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