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Can mobile banking revolutionize the lives of the poor?

• elcubonegro 12y ago
  More than half of the world's poor don't use banks, and this is a huge problem for them and the entire system because, not only they are vulnerable to theft, lost, and exploitation, but it allows narcotics dealers to continue in their business...
  • JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    I thought many use 'minutes' as a currency? Less vulnerable.
  • Tarang 12y ago
    This is true, it has been revolutionary. There is a bit of a dark side to it that's not often mentioned, mobile banking isn't exactly a white knight. For example interest rates on mobile banking/microlending platforms are quite astronomical at over 80% annually (usually ~8% per month [MPESA/MSHWARI]) which is a bit predatory - I think its to account for the default rate. Secondly, some countries seize deposits after 2 years of inactivity to an unclaimed financial assets fund (2 years isn't alot considering the quite-manual processes involved in developing countries to get your assets back. On the other hand you get a decent amount of interest on amounts which could be less than $0.50 worth (so long as you're active) and this is better than holding cash/any argument against holding cash. It's also easy to transfer money between people by far. Competition can probably help with the predatory lending rates.