Articles by Bryan Pon
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Guest Articles
Wednesday
April 7
2021Women Are Paying More for M-Pesa: A Gender Analysis of Mobile Money Fees in Kenya
The cost of using financial services is a key barrier to their adoption and use in low- and middle-income countries — and when it comes to mobile money transactions via M-Pesa in Kenya, those costs are greater for women, according to a recent study. Bryan Pon at Caribou Data shares details about the study's findings, and explains how understanding these gender differences could illuminate some of the obstacles women face when using digital financial services – and help inform policy or system design approaches that could address these challenges.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Guest Articles
Wednesday
April 7
2021‘Back in the U.S.S.D.’: Most Smartphone Owners—Especially Women—Don’t Use Apps for Financial Services
The global transition from basic mobile phones to smartphones has impacted nearly every sector, including financial services. Bryan Pon from Caribou Data considers whether this shift will help or hinder access to mobile money and digital finance for women in emerging markets — a group already less likely to be using these services. He shares the findings of a comprehensive study on how payment system design could impact gender bias in digital finance, and discusses the ongoing popularity — and under-recognized advantages — of old-fashioned USSD codes in mobile money.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
- Tags
- data, financial inclusion, fintech
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Monday
May 18
2015NexThough Monday – Facebook.org’s Budding ‘Walled Garden’: What it could mean for Internet consumers, developers in emerging markets
If Facebook.org becomes a significant part of the mobile Internet landscape in emerging markets, the model that it establishes may become the de facto standard. Yet Facebook remains firmly in control of regulating participation – and thus innovation – writes Bryan Pon, Research Director for Caribou Digital.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- infrastructure
