News Archive - Page 337 of 366

Recent Developments, <br /> Key Innovations, and <br /> Insightful Reports

Recent Developments,
Key Innovations, and
Insightful Reports

Your One Stop Platform for Regular Sector Updates

Sector news

India: Poor women to get mobile feeds on their financial info

About 9 million women in Andhra Pradesh, India’s SHGs ()Self Help Groups) are set to have access to their financial transactions history on their mobile phones very soon. This will be because of a book-keeping project being launched by the State Government. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

Haiti mobile money initiative reaches the 5 million transaction milestone

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID recently announced that two of Haiti’s mobile network operators, Digicel and Voila would be sharing an award of US$3.2million from the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI) for reaching the 5 million transaction milestone and meeting the award program’s requirements. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

Boon for mobile money banking

USAID and Citigroup recently colalborated to further encourage the use of mobile banking in rural communities in several countries, including the Philippines, Colombia, Haiti, Indonesia and Kenya and others. About US$23 million was pledged to support local mobile money platforms, while Citi committed to integrate its core banking solutions with […]

August 6, 2012

How Visa can help bring rural Africans into modern economy

Visa’s purchase of South African software company Fundamo last year is heralds inclusion of more Africans into mainstream modern economy, one that centres around mobile payments. Visa’s entry, with its assets, brand, experience, and systems will open Africa’s myriad closed-loop systems. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

Airtel introduces first mobile commerce service in Burkina Faso

Airtel Burkina Faso, the largest mobile company in the country, has launched its mobile money platform named Airtel Money, or m-ligdi, in partnership with Ecobank. This platform would allow people to send and receive money, pay their critical utility bills, access their bank accounts. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

India: Mobile-enabled savings through the Business Correspondent Model

In this post the ability of the poorest of the poor to save is being tested. Grameen Foundation in partnership with ICICI, one of India’s commercial banks, Cashpor and Eko Technologies rolled out a programme that enabled mobile-owning customers to open accounts wherein they could save. After 9 months, it […]

August 6, 2012

Africa: Agency banking will drive penetration in rural areas

According to Dr Yinka Adedeji, divisional head of e-banking for United Bank of Africa, a planned introduction of agency banking in the country will promote financial inclusion. The Central Bank of Nigeria will soon be introducing agent-banking in the country. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

Mobile money in emerging markets – where to next?

This post talks about the concept of interoperability and what it means for the mobile banking scenario in the developing world. It stresses on the shift required by MNOs (mobile network operators) to enhance MMs (mobile money products). For this, both banks and MNOs would have to be more outgoing […]

August 6, 2012

Replicating M-PESA – Mobile and cloud technology spur innovation in financial inclusion

This article, second in a series examining the role of innovation in mobile technology and services in financial inclusion. It explores the replicability of M-PESA’s and Ekgaon’s mobile money service, and mobile and cloud technology respectively is boosting the capacity of microfinance institutions. Read more here.