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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, lo
by 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 agoI thought many use 'minutes' as a currency? Less vulnerable.
- Tarang 12y agoThis 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.