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Big Idea: Why Hands-On Regulation of Mobile Money Could Be Dangerous
There’s a very simple imperative driving the tariff structure and every other decision that determines access to mobile money: cost recovery. This is more than a cold-hearted calculation by mobile network operators’ accountants. If rural mobile money agents, who generally operate as independent contractors, cannot profit from this role, there will be no rural agents and no mobile money service.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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The Big Idea: Taking Mobile Money Forward
The excitement of mobile money has been dampened by an inability of deployments to take hold outside a handful of successful markets. Driving the enthusiasm forward is the opportunity to bridge the gap between one billion people in emerging markets who have mobile phones but no bank account. On Tuesday, McKinsey & Company released a report “Mobile money: Getting to scale in emerging markets” seeking to cut through this excitement and identify critical success factors for implementation.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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Mobile Money Payments: Why It’s Time to Move From P2P to Me2Me
Mobile money providers should embrace Me2Me systems, that is, easy-to-use commitment savings platforms that help map how people think about their long-term needs and money. In the customer’s mind, each date would be associated with a purpose, such as paying off school fees, rent, farm equipment or other long-term purchases and expenses.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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CSR Fail: Why It’s Time for a BoP Tech Revolution
It’s up to all of us to change the tide and think about the intersection of technology inclusion and education more critically. It’s time for corporations to stop giving away their scrap computers to the developing world and calling it CSR. It’s time for NGOs to be more judicious about the hand-outs they accept and the indirect costs endured.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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Watch: With Smartphones, Software, Building Better Agricultural Value Chains
Funded by the Gates Foundation, African Cashew Initiative is a $48 million project that aims to raise the incomes of 150,000 smallholder farmers. From Ghana, business software giant SAP is researching how ICT software coupled with smartphones is improving efficiency and trust in the cashew value chain, from farmers to buyers/traders. (With video)
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- Agriculture, Technology, Telecommunications
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Brazil’s Flourishing ’LAN’ Houses Supplying More Than Internet Connections
Brazil hosts over 100,000 publicly sponsored Internet access centers, or LAN (Local Area Network) Houses. The phenomenon started in affluent areas of S?o Paulo in the 1990s and now extend into poor isolated regions. These centers represent to 45% of all Internet access in Brazil, and connect 30 million Brazilians, mainly in low-income communities.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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NextThought (Tuesday): Meeting Customers in the Middle and Other HBR Insights
This month’s Harvard Business Review ambitiously re-calibrates the dialogue on corporate social responsibility and the true meaning of shared value in rebuilding capitalism?s sullied reputation following the financial crisis. The HBR authors also implore established companies to "take a page from startups" by treating each emerging market as new.
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Transactions Without Borders: The March of Mobile Money
The term "unbanked" does not always equate to "unbankable." In fact, it’s often simply a case of banks being unreachable. In his latest book, Sam Pitroda explains that the digital wallet is going to change the very concept of money, leading to financial and social inclusion.
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- Technology, Telecommunications