Mobile Money for Development: Experiences from the Field

Using Mobile Money for Development:Experiences from the Field

CHEMONICS TECHNICAL PRACTICES | FINANCIAL SERVICES





USAID/Philippines - MABS Program •Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program provided technical assistance and training to rural banks to develop their capacity to expand access to banking services starting in 1997. •In an effort to expand outreach & improve efficiency of banking services, work started with mobile money issuers in 2004.



Benefits of the Collaboration Mobile Money Issuer•Technical assistance and R&D•Work with regulators•Pilot testing of new servicesUSAID (Donor)•Leveraging of resources•Technical platformProject Recipient•Greater Efficiency•Lower Costs•Improved Outreach



Over 1,100 rural bank agent outlets More than 390,000 new clients served Over PhP 17 Billion ($400 million) in mobile money

enabled banking transactions



USAID/ Kenya Transition Initiative

Project goals: to assist Kenyans in understanding constitutional reforms and to promote peaceful presidential elections

• Four project offices in Kenya: head office in Nairobi, two offices in Rift Valley, and an office in Mombasa



Reasons for Using Mobile Money •KTI grants are in-kind grants•Prior to using mobile money, virtually all allowances were cash – advance requests and expense reports•Large A/R balances ($22.6K for $176K in grants)•Slower invoicing•Security risks



Results from Shift to Mobile Money Transactions:

•Reduced Expenses •Improved Efficiency•Increased Security•A/R dropped from $22.6K to $1.5K



Cost-savings associated with grant disbursements in Nairobi Office, before and after shift to using M-PESA mobile money



USAID/Afghanistan Financial Access for the Investing in the Development of Afghanistan (FAIDA) Project

Project Objective: assists the Government of Afghanistan and the private sector in developing the financial sector.

Among four program components: support for Mobile Money & Branchless Banking

• Grants to promote innovation in mobile money

• Technical Assistance to MNOs• Capacity building of Association of Mobile

Money Operators in Afghanistan (AMMOA)



Mobile Money and Branchless Banking Component

FAIDA mobile money activities include:

• Strengthening capacity of AMMOA• Promoting Salary Payments• Promoting Electricity Bill Payment

Service• Promoting an Employment Program via

Mobile Money



Mobile Money & Branchless Banking Component

Results:• Active association of mobile money

operators• More than 300 Ag Depot operators in two

regions trained as MM agents• Almost 30K electricity customers

registered to use MM• Approved $ 2.8M MM Grant Fund



Mobile Money & Branchless Banking Component

Lessons Learned:• Experiences in deploying mobile money• Working with GIRoA and other private

institutions• Importance of MM agents• Awareness and continuous education



Lessons Learned Win-Win Proposition: Mobile Money Operators can benefit by

working with other partners such as donors & governments to support mobile money transfers & mobile payment ecosystems

Properly structuring partnerships is key

Value propositions need to be worked out between all partners

Integrating mobile money with other regular payments as well as is useful to expand take up

Communication, education, and marketing using real use cases is key, especially in markets where mobile money is new

Mobile Money for Development: Experiences from the Field

Technology

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