Mobile Money | Promoter of Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion: Africa is the land of mobile money, and mobile is the most frequently used and widely accepted technological device of any other. Financial services are a key need for most people due to almost negligible banking penetration, and it makes sense to enable mobile devices with a set of financial tools and features as mobile handset penetration is more than 10 to 15 times higher than banking.

The finance sector can take advantage of mobile devices to penetrate all classes of society, so the birth of mobile money to promote Financial Inclusion.

1. Mobile money services were essentially for unbanked and underprivileged customers.
2. Mobile money is supposed to improve life for the lower segment of society by
   1. Domestic remittances from cities to villages
   2. Availability of agents to withdraw cash
   3. Building Savings Culture
3. The acceptance of mobile money under Mobile Financial Services was the biggest breakthrough.
4. The role of a mobile money agent is crucial and very critical for the success of the service.
5. Who can be an agent and how agent distribution needs to be plotted on a city or country map are also very critical.
   1. Mobile money refers to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cash, a check, or credit cards, a consumer can use a mobile phone to pay for a wide range of services and digital or hard goods.
   2. In developing countries, mobile money solutions have been deployed as a means of extending financial services to the community known as the “unbanked” or “underbanked,” which is estimated to be as much as 50% of the world’s adult population.
6. How Mobile Money Improves the Lives of the Lower Segment of Society
   1. Mobile money is mostly used for domestic remittances. Remittance transactions are usually from cities to villages. They emanate from the need for the working class to take care of their kin in rural areas. International remittances are also taking a good share of this pie.
   2. Mobile money thrives on accessibility of services, and a wide agent network in both cities and rural areas is required.
   3. Savings clubs have been a recent addition to mobile money services, and this has assisted club members to save up in an easy and electronic way outside the banking system.
7. Acceptability of Mobile Money
   1. Over the years, the acceptability of mobile money as a payment medium has improved, with most economies embarking on a cashless society drive to reduce dependence on paper currency.
   2. Most vendors, retailers, and transport operators accept mobile payment as an alternative to cash due to its elimination of cash handling expenses and risks.
   3. The introduction of NFC-driven payments has revolutionized the market for micropayments.
8. Role and importance of agents
   1. The success of mobile money heavily depends on accessibility.
   2. The agent is the primary access channel for mobile money as it conducts agent-centered transactions like registrations, cash in, and cash out transactions.
   3. Agents trade mobile money for a commission.
   4. They also act as the first point of contact for subscribers, and it is prudent for a mobile money operator to invest in agent education.
9. Who can or should be an agent?
   1. Agent qualification criteria are defined by the operator after considering the requirements of the regulator.
   2. Individuals and companies can qualify to be agents, and they have to meet the required KYC requirements.
   3. The operator’s agent officers are responsible for recruiting and managing relations with the agents.
   4. The density of agents has to be predefined by the operator to maintain the profitability of agents as well as their accessibility to subscribers.

Financial inclusion – I have a strong notion that financial inclusion ought to be regarded as a fundamental human right constitutes the cornerstone of my creed and aspirations.

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