Cell phones plug Africa's poor into mobile banking

Cell phones plug Africa's poor into mobile banking
Tags: Bank / Credit Union, EFT Networks, Networking / Connectivity, Other, Retail / Off-Premises, Transaction Processing, Trends / Statistics
October 31, 2005

Reuters: Mobile technology has already revolutionized communications in Africa, the world's poorest continent, bringing phones to millions of poor and isolated people. Now cell phones are serving as a bank in the pocket, providing virtual accounts for South Africans excluded from the financial mainstream by exorbitant charges and branch networks clustered in wealthy white suburbs. Widespread banking services are seen as crucial to boosting growth in Africa's economy and shrinking the huge gap between mostly well-off whites and poor blacks. But banks often put off low earners with cumbersome bureaucracy and high fees.