The news on the shutdown of Liberty Reserve money transfer raises concerns for the potential knock on impact on legitimate users – of that service, and of new ones like it, that are springing up around the world. What then is the most effective way in which this kind of use of digital money can be segregated from the daily transformative use of Digital Money as a tool for financial inclusion?
Having extensively researched digital wallets on behalf of players across multiple industries, I thought that today I should share my thoughts on what they are, and more importantly why you should care.
In two previous blogs I discussed how branchless banking(BB) has taken off in Pakistan, and the way that the mobile and banking industries in Bangladesh are coming together to launch mobile financial services (MFS). This brings us to the logical question – how do they compare against each other? How is BB Pakistani style different to MFS a la Bangladesh? Which is likely to take off faster, and how are the people in each of the countries likely to benefit from the services?
Will Bangladesh, a pioneer of microfinance, be able to make a success of mobile financial services?
As part of their vision of Digital Bangladesh, they are engaged in rolling out services to the unbanked segment. This is part of a larger move towards Digital Money, with the Digital Money SAGE registering over 33 Digital Money initiatives, from over 46 players across a wide range of industries. Interestingly, these are not just local players. In September last year PayPal entered the country, on the initiative of freelancers who wanted a way to accept payments from people around the world.
At the confluence of multiple markets, Malaysia is the “Turkey of the East”.
As it is both a Sender and Receiver of remittances payment providers from multiple industries find it a perfect testing ground for innovative new services.
With enabling regulations having been in place for some time, I thought I should discuss why it is that traction has not been greater. And is this a hiccup, an initial inertia, possibly the calm before the storm? Is the tipping point going to come, although later than expected, and if so, is 2013 going to be the year?
Whether or not consumers will adopt is an outcome determined by a complex set of circumstances. Explore the Malaysia profile on our SAGE site and let me know what you think. We have an interesting free whitepaper on Mobile Money in Malaysia here. Over the next few months I shall share my thoughts, considering the determinants, the survey results and more, so we can together get a better sense of what is likely to happen.
Since the last update of the Branchless Banking regulations in Pakistan in June 2011, there has been an impressive growth in the number of BB agents so that they now overshadow other channels apart from POS. It seems Pakistan is poised to prove to the world that mobile operators and banks can work effectively together within a bank-based model to achieve the desired traction in banking the unbanked.
At Shift Thought we recently released two comprehensive 200+ page reports on Digital Money in Pakistan and Bangladesh. This blog shares some of our findings. This first post shares some thoughts on Pakistan. It will be followed by a post on Bangladesh and next a comparison of the development of mobile money in both countries.
In February 2012 I wrote a Mobile Money Brief on Mexico for the Clarion MMT Gateway.
One reason why M-Pesa succeeded so strongly in Kenya is there was a need for it. Mexico is one of the other such countries where mobile has the highest promise for promoting financial inclusion.
Shift Thought recently completed an analysis of Digital Money Initiatives around the world and I presented some of the findings at the Clarion MMMT APAC held in Singapore earlier this month.
In January 2012 I wrote a Mobile Money Brief on Singapore for the Clarion MMT Gateway. Awards had recently been announced regarding the call for collaboration on NFC.
Some of the key observations I made then then were that:
In November 2011 I wrote a Mobile Money Brief on the United States of America for the Clarion MMT Gateway. What we observed in 2011 was like the awakening of a sleeping giant.