This document discusses the potential for using mobile money to promote social innovation and development. It provides examples of how mobile money is being used in various countries to improve financial inclusion, access to basic services, and empower individuals. Specifically, it outlines programs in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania that use mobile money for purposes like solar energy payments, textbook rentals, maternal health incentives, and savings accounts. The document suggests BRAC should consider how mobile money could improve existing programs through mechanisms like smaller, more frequent payments with less direct contact, as well as enable new service delivery models focused on addressing client needs.

1. Mobile Money
for Social
Innovation
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2. Agenda
• What is Mobile Money?
• How/where is it being used to promote wider
development?
• What is the potential for BRAC? (this is the
question only you can answer)

3. Achieving scale and reducing costs with technology
6.2 b
Reducing Channel Cost of
Banking Infrastructure
•
$250k Traditional branch
•
$50k In-store branch
•
$10k ATM
•
$2k Agent with POS terminal
•
$400 Agent with mobile
•
$0k No agent (cashless)
1.7 billion people worldwide have a mobile phone but no bank account.
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4. In “mature” mobile money markets, broad adoption
Means of payment, for people making any kind of payment
100%
90%
2%
7%
80%
Value to
Individuals
1%
29%
2%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
6%
5%
Transfer through
Bank
Money Transfer
Co. (i.e. WU)
90%
68%
30%
Cash
60%
20%
Mobile Phone
Transfer
10%
0%
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Use of mobile money in few (though more “mature” platforms )
outweighs (by far) the use of any other means
Source: Data is from Godoy, Kendall, Sonnenschein, and Tortora, “Payments and Money Transfer Behavior of Sub-Saharan
African Households” (forthcoming).
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5. Mobile money making its mark in poor people’s lives
2012
Is it really
reaching
poor
people?
Kenya: Broad adoption across all levels of
the population
Source: Jack & Suri, 2012; http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/02/27/m_pesa_ict4d_and_mobile_banking_for_the_poor_.html
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6. Angaza Solar
Customers buys Angaza Solar
Kit off Sunny Money Agent
Embedding SIM = 15 USD (M-KOPA)
Angaza technology bypasses the MNO at a
cost of 2USD by not using SIM.
Customers tops- up Angaza
PAYGO account via M-PESA
Paybill
Once “top-up” approved, an
1800 number dials the
customer’s phone. They
place the phone next to
device and the sound
transmits information to the
receiver topping up
Electricity.
Solar Kit uses a tone-based
technology to
communicate with server
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8. Kytabu
KYTABU is a textbook leasing application for low cost tablets.
User has the option of ‘renting’ a
book instead of buying it. It’s
textbook subscription at its best.
User selects Kytabu app and has access
to database of books and chooses what
book they would like to subscribe to.
Reducing the cost of a book by more
than 60%, users can rent textbooks on an
hourly, weekly, monthly, school term or
annual plan
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9. Changamka
1. Mobile phone vouchers:
reducing infant mortality
Paid to mothers for antenatal,
Postnatal and delivery care, travel
2. Savings for birth: for maternal
care only
SMS reminders, matching
subsidies, easy place to deposit
All information, payments done over mobile. Results evaluation by Geogetown University,
gui2de program http://gui2de.georgetown.edu/

10. What is the potential for BRAC?
• 95m SIM Subscribers, roughly 70m users
• bKash, Dutch Bangla, Islami Bank:
– 7m plus accounts in 2 years, rising fast
– 50,000 agent points of service
• No longer experimental: it will soon be available
everywhere
• Bangladesh is today a leading market for mobile
money (largest and fastest growing in Asia during
2013)
• Tanzania, Uganda, and Pakistan also fast growth

11. BRAC can address with 2 questions:
1. How can mobile money improve existing
programs?
2. How does mobile money enable entirely new
ways to deliver or empower?
•
•
Many small payments, less direct contact
required, national, control of technology, pay-as-yougo
Focus on client problem/pain points, not sexy
technology

12. www.cgap.org
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