Articles by Ignacio Mas
-
Guest Articles
Tuesday
June 9
2020Missed Calls = Missed Opportunities: How Starlogik is Converting a Mobile Billing Loophole into an Inclusive Innovation
The mobile telephony industry has done a remarkable job reaching poorer people in developing countries. But as Ignacio Mas at the Digital Frontiers Institute points out, this success has been shaped by customer ingenuity too – for instance, through the common practice of reallocating call charges by requesting call-backs via missed calls. He explores how Starlogik has formalized this billing loophole to create a mutually beneficial new feature.
- Categories
- Technology
-
Friday
December 15
2017Beyond the Bubble: What’s Cool, Potentially Cool, And Clearly Not Cool About Bitcoin in Financial Inclusion?
Bitcoin owners are laughing all the way to the (virtual) bank: The cryptocurrency’s value has gone up over 2,000 percent in the past year. But along with concerns about a likely "market correction," this has raised some pressing questions about its value as a tool for financial inclusion. Ignacio Mas explores Bitcoin's potential on that front, offering four points to consider.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
-
Monday
June 5
2017I’m a Victim of DFS: Digitizing My Dollars is Fine, the Problem is Digitizing Me
The whole framework for digital money is inadequate, says Ignacio Mas, because people don't have a proper digital identity. That's partly due to governments and financial institutions having different needs. He recommends dividing identity rules into two: one set that serves financial integrity and law enforcement needs, and another that fulfills the bank's fiduciary duty toward customers.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Monday
February 6
2017Learning from (and About) India’s Emerging Digital Money Grid
The Indian government's experience in converting all its citizens onto a digital platform can help inform all digital finance professionals interested in financial inclusion models, according to Ignacio Mas and his team at the Digital Frontiers Institute. So they've collaborated with MicroSave to create a four-week online course, Digital Money Grid India, which they'll offer starting March 27.
- Categories
- Education
-
Tuesday
June 7
2016Unlocking Empowerment for Poor Customers: Three Tips for Financial Services Providers
We expect financial services to bring several things to the lives of poor people: more options on how to manage their circumstances and opportunities, a sense of confidence and control over their future - a sense of empowerment, in other words. Here are three ways that financial institutions can nurture empowerment among low-income customers through their actions and offerings.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Monday
March 7
2016Innocent Ephraim / Ignacio Mas / Daniel S. Mhina
NexThought Monday: Why Digital Wallets Stay Empty – and Six Ways Providers Can Help
In emerging economies throughout the world, people have flocked to mobile payment solutions, whether it’s to send money home, facilitate informal business transactions or pay bills. Yet most digital accounts are empty and serve mainly as a pass-through for such payments, which limits the transformational potential of mobile money. Here are several factors which make digital accounts an illogical store of value for people with low and uncertain incomes, and six ways providers can address this issue.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Wednesday
September 9
2015Different Worlds: Why digital payments should not be regulated as an offshoot of banking / Ignacio Mas
Different Worlds: Why digital payments should not be regulated as an offshoot of banking
Digital payments is emerging as its own field of expertise - and though the two sectors are often lumped together, it differs substantially from banking. For instance, banks prosper greatly from managing risk and little from network effects, while payments providers typically are just the opposite. This leads to fundamentally different outlooks between the practitioners in each field, and necessitates different regulatory approaches.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Thursday
November 13
2014Free the Cash Networks!: How one small regulatory change could have a huge positive impact on mobile money’s development
Mobile money is booming around the developing world - but would-be entrepreneurs and even established companies are dealing with a major impediment to their success: the challenge of running a cash-in/cash-out agent network. These struggles are impeding the supply of competitive digital financial services, says Ignacio Mas - but
a simple regulatory change could help eliminate the problem.- Categories
- Uncategorized
