There's gold in them thar mobiles!
Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 12:05AM 
Another FT on Africa.
How mobiles fuel banking in infrastructure-hostile environments in Africa: Better to pay over the phone than carry the cash or waste time going to branches that do not exist. All sorts of everyday transactions are suddenly greased to the point of actual convenience!
That growth in e-banking, in turn, fuels the ambition of local banks to expand services locally and expand the reach of their operations geographically—an incredibly virtuous trend generated primarily by sheer connectivity.
The key dynamic is the spread of banking services to the previously “underbanked.” The extension of short-term credit to individuals makes capitalism work—as in, I will gladly pay you by mobile for a hamburger today.
Credit to ODA (official developmental aid) where it is due:
Vodafone, the British telecoms company, with a local partner and the backing of Britain’s Department for International Development, launched one of the most celebrated mobile banking initiatives: M-Pesa of Kenya.
This is basically telecoms moving into banking.
Reader Comments (1)
I can imagine companies like Apple losing the iphone and returning to being mobile service providers ( itunes) and the Visa / Amex /Banks becoming the next generation of mobile handset makers...as security becomes an issue ( phone as wallet).
The advantages of having all your money at your fingertips in real-time by mobile should have some interesting spin-offs.
How are business transactions going to tracked -taxed ..? Will the Tax Office inspect mobile phone transaction.
The disappearance of the cash ( black ) economy ?
A tipping point should surely come ..when coins and notes become too expensive to circulate as demand for them drops ( 10 -15 years )
I wonder if any country would dare to make records public ( increasing security by making all transactions tranaparent ) once cash had disappeared...casuing tax receipts to increase.