What good is mobile banking if the phone isn’t charged?
by Jan Chipchase : Monday, July 19, 2010
For many living on the edge of the grid, power comes in the form of a car battery which in domestic contexts can last up to one month to run a light bulb or two; keep a radio and mobile phone charged; and for occasional television use. Refrigerators are not worth purchasing unless there is continued access to electricity. Charging a car battery take ~3 days: one day to pick up and drop off; a day to charge, and this can take significantly longer if the locale where it is normally charged does not itself have electricity.
Driven by mobile phone customer needs, neighborhood vendors with mains electricity and/or access to a power generator typically offer mobile phone charging as a value added service. The cost of a single charge is relatively high – for example in downtown Kampala charging a mobile phone costs three times the cost of a phone call ~ 500 Ugandan Shillings/0.2 Euro. There are alternative ways to charge: with friends that still have a working car battery; the local church may have invested in a solar panel or generator; in India it is common for longer distance busses to offer mobile phone charging as a value added service. China is also notable in that consumers are far more likely to carry a second battery and own a battery charger – these are often offered as value-added extras when purchasing a mobile phone.
For people with variable access to power the main charging related issues are that: in environments where the risk of theft of unattended objects is considered high, the battery will be removed from the phone and charged separately; whilst charged the phone cannot be used; the device they use has a higher likelihood of having an used and inefficient or non-authentic battery; and if left whilst charging there is a perceived (or actual) risk that the charger will somehow access money related services on their phone. The latter may not by default be considered important but if there are real or perceived issues about the service later on the time where the ‘phone was unattended’ may form part of their rationalisation process.
What happens to adoption of our service if the user is not able to use their mobile phone for an extended period of time?
-Jan Chipchase
July 26th, 2010 at 10:48 am, Fehmeen | Microfinance Hub ()
I recently read that low-cost home solar power systems are being sold through microfinance facilities in certain parts of the world and one of the benefits is the ability to charge mobile phones (and hence, to use mobile banking services). However, I imagine millions of poor people do not have this privilege, and it would limit, to some extent, the widespread use of mobile banking. Clearly, the low level of infrastructure development (i.e. lack of access to electricity, medical facilities, clean water, education facilities, etc) presents a major hurdle to all microfinance programs, and it partially explains why microfinance isn’t producing the ground breaking results many people expected. Indeed, it is a slow, long term process that will eradicate poverty, and the public sector ought to step in and do their part too.
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July 19th, 2010 at 12:29 am, Tweets that mention What good is mobile banking if the phone isn’t charged? -- Topsy.com ()
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