There's a lot of talk these days about providing financial services to the "unbanked", but I'm skeptical. I think of it in this way: Question: Can the provis

There's a lot of talk these days about providing financial services to the "unbanked", but I'm skeptical. I think of it in this way: Question: Can the provision of financial services to the unbanked (and "unmonied") reduce poverty and inequality, ceteris paribus? Null hypothesis: In the absence of robust means of creating or obtaining wealth or money, along with non-discriminatory property rights, no it cannot. Financial services follow the money, they don't precede it (b/c they're not a charity and they require money to make money). Article: However, notwithstanding the short-term economic benefits of consumption smoothing, whether such a transformative financial innovation could also help to raise the level of consumption and lift people out of poverty over the longer term remained unresolved. Sounds like these digital financial services smooth transactions and economic activity, but if you're looking to jumpstart or grow it you still need a strong focus on wealth creation activities.