Highlight: Mobile Technology

Mobile technology has definitely become a major part of our daily lives. A majority of us carry cell phones, smart phones, or laptops with us every single day. Phones have become so sophisticated they are being considered tiny computers. This mobile technology is not as prevalent in many countries. But now companies are finding innovative ways of using the limited resources in poor countries to provide cheap, easy, secure access to banking services. This is vitally important to microfinance all over the world. If these various experimental initiatives become successful it will be a great way for the banking neglected to make money transfers and do daily banking activities. There are a couple of examples that I would like to highlight where mobile technology is helping people get access to banking.

Cambodia is a country of few luxuries. It is a struggling country that have many people in poverty. According to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, about 80% of the population live in rural areas and about 35% live beneath the World Bank poverty line. Only about 3 million of the 14 million living in the country own a phone. Only about 500,000 people have a bank account in Cambodia. There is basically almost no electronic banking in Cambodia. In fact, there is only about 200 ATMs in the whole country. Many banks will not make an effort to have any rural branches because the people are not able to reach any of the banks minimum requirements to use the banks services. It is why this project is so important. The project is called WING. It has been started by a top global bank called ANZ. It was launched early 2009 and has been making serious progress. WING has been able to open 150 points of representation in almost all of the provinces in Cambodia. Their core target group are the bank neglected citizens of Cambodia that do not have the means to use a conventional bank. They hope to educate the rural families of the benefits of this type of banking. Many rural families have family members that travel to work in urban areas in garment factories and other industries. They usually use unsafe and costly options for money transfers. But with WING it is much more convenient and secure. They also hope to target students in major urban areas to use this as an easy way to get money. They have also targeted employers to use this electronic service as a way to distribute the payroll.

There are some challenges that WING faces. One of my biggest worries for this project is the lack of mobile phones in the country. This is why they have focused on opening branches and points of contact in rural areas where people need person to person contact. They also want to reach out to the villages that may be sharing phones and have developed technology that allows individuals to bank safely even on a shared phone. Furthermore, since many of the phones that do exist in the country are not up-to-date they have had to adjust the technology for easy usage. Moreover, they have had to make the technology easy for the English illiterate. They have also been working with public officials to have more regulations for electronic payments so that their customers can be protected. It sounds like they have really done much work after their launch on January 21, 2009. They are very optimistic of their project and how they will be able to grow in the future. This is definitely something that will help the microfinance community as a whole and could be used as a model in the future.

The second example is from South Africa. This pilot program is focused on the microentrepreneurs of the country. The service is being provided by WIZZIT Bank in South Africa. They are offering a service that will greatly benefit the average small business owner. It will keep the business owner from carrying all large amounts of money around and worry about getting robbed. Also, it will be more convenient for them to settle their accounts and payments electronically rather than taking time of a business day to travel places to do so. This service will offer mobile banking payment service for the major wholesalers that supply many of the microentrepreneurs of Motherwell, South Africa. This will also allow for easy account opening with one of the biggest clothing wholesalers in the country at a discount. People that are interested can sign up at South African post offices. This is not only offering new convenient technology to shop owners but also helping them expand their options through partnerships with wholesalers. I believe this is a great idea. I think it will open many doors for the shop owners in this tourist area and eventually all of South Africa.

We understand the importance of technology because we live with it everyday. We have the world at our fingertips, as they say. Shouldn't the rest of the world have the opportunity to have that too? I believe so. I think it is important not only to offer banking services but new ways of conducting business for the poorer countries in the world, the bank neglected. We know how technology has made our lives more convenient and that is why technology must be used in places it will help the most.