Mobile phone technology and remittance services for the poor

Photo - istockphoto.com

At a meeting with CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) colleagues yesterday, I tried to barter my limited knowledge of remittances for their extensive knowledge of mobile technology and its vast potential to serve the poor. It occurs to me that among others, there is one more compelling reason for applying mobile technology to remittance services: the bulk of poor migrants tend to travel short distances, mostly within the country or to neighboring countries just across the border, and a large number of them stay within the calling range of domestic mobile phones. Such migrants typically cannot have bank accounts in the host country, and in any case banks do not want to serve them. These migrants rely on friends (or strangers) going home or hawaladars to send money home. More recently, it appears that they have discovered the idea of transferring mobile phone minutes. M-Pesa in Kenya has done well by capitalizing on this technique. Other mobile providers are also beginning to offer mobile phone remittances.