By:
Paul Leishman: January 8th, 2010
In December, we shared an article by Ignacio Mas that described how microfinance is being ‘reframed’. That is, until now microfinance has implied micro ‘funding’ of poor clients with loans, whereas many now recognize that going forward, microsavings will be a critical instrument to meet the financial needs of base of pyramid customers. Ignacio’s December article outlined the four key elements in the discussion underpinning the viability of bringing microsavings offerings to market.
Today, we’re sharing a new article by Bob Christen and Ignacio Mas. This article elaborates on why savings is so important - and suggests how the microsavings model might work in practice. That is, what role each player, including mobile operators, banks and MFIs, might play in developing a system capable of delivering microsavings to all, profitably.
By:
Paul Leishman: December 9th, 2009
I’m pleased to share an article recently written by Ignacio Mas, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation are supporters of the MMU Programme and similarly strong advocates for savings. That is, they see the immense social impact that could be realized by leveraging the consumer uptake of mobile money - and the supporting agent network infrastructure - to improve the savings landscape in developing markets.
Read the article for an analysis of the four key elements that underpin the viability of formal micro-savings offerings: the competition from informal savings mechanisms, the importance of formal trust-building through branding and marketing, the problem of distribution, and the complementarity between savings and payment services.
By:
Paul Leishman: October 5th, 2009
In the wake of mobile money featuring on the cover of The Economist, many are surely asking where the next success story will come from. In this article, Ignacio Mas and Amrik Heyer analyse the environmental dynamics affecting the uptake of mobile money. The authors demonstrate that aside from strong strategy and good business models, the uptake of financial services in developing countries is dependent on the extent of market penetration and the political environments in which they take root.
By:
Paul Leishman: September 29th, 2009
The Economist placed the spotlight squarely on the mobile money industry this week with their cover story ‘The Power of Mobile Money’. Be sure to read the article here. For additional insights, check out the final video in our series from the GSMA Mobile Money Summit. The video is titled ‘Mobile Money - Inside Track’ and includes perspectives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, SMART, Visa, Zain and the GSMA.
By:
Paul Leishman: September 14th, 2009
Agent distribution and the economics of branchless banking is a topic of great importance to the mobile money industry. CGAP have done great work in this field, and today I’m pleased to share an important article from Ignacio Mas of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Originally published in Innovations, a quarterly journal published by MIT Press, Ignacio’s article offers a definition of branchless banking and a great deal of detail around the economic drivers.
