Are banks the bad guys in the mobile money innovation debate?
by Sarah Rotman: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Bill Maurer and Olga Morawczynski’s blog post from a few weeks ago discussed a topic that seems to be on everyone’s mind: innovation in mobile money…or the lack thereof. This has generated a lot of comments and even follow-up blog posts, like one by Bill Barhydt from m-Via. Bill and Olga made some good points about the nimbleness that MNOs and other players have to exercise in order to stay competitive and generate innovation. However, I’m not so convinced that there is a lack of innovation in mobile money because MNOs are partnering with banks. I’d say that there is at least as much of a lack of innovation in mobile money because MNOs are simply trying to copy M-PESA. The link-up between Tameer and Telenor (a bank and an MNO) in Pakistan has received big acclaim for innovation. It’s easy to blame the regulators, as Bill and Olga say, but it’s also quite easy to blame the banks.


