Mobile Money

Communication, Consumption and Change in the Payments Space

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5772324
AutoresB Maurer (0000-0001-5339-9893, University of California, Irvine, autor de correspondencia)
Año2012
Volumen48
Número5
Páginas589-604
Fecha de publicación2012-04-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Development Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-0388 • E-ISSN: 1743-9140
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00220388.2011.621944
OpenAlexW2038413674
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas107
Referencias citadas33

This article explores the emerging field of 'mobile money': mobile phone-enabled systems for value transfer and storage, primarily in the developing world, which are heralded as signal interventions in the effort to broaden financial inclusion and bank the 'unbanked.' Focusing on the stories that circulate in the emergent network of expertise that is calling 'mobile money' into being, it discusses how economic techniques and social narratives about markets - specifically, narratives about the opportunities for profit and financial inclusion in the 'payments space' - format a consumer market for mobile money. Furthermore, it asks whether end-users' repurposing of mobile money - and the use of airtime as currency - heralds a new means of exchange or store of value, potentially remaking money in the process. Acknowledgements This article is based in part on fieldwork and research collaborations I have had with industry professionals working to develop digital and mobile money services for the past several years. My position as the Director of an institute that supports research into everyday and unexpected uses of money and technology has also afforded me a position to speak with a wide variety of industry, development, philanthropic and design professionals, as well as to glean insight from emerging practices in developing world contexts (the Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). I would like to thank Isha Ray and Renee Kuriyan Wittemyer for co-sponsoring the conference on the Bottom of the Pyramid that led to this essay, as well as for their feedback on earlier drafts. I would also like to thank Tom Boellstorff, Julia Elyachar, Jenny Fan, Scott Mainwaring, Taylor Nelms, Stevie Rea, Morgan Romine and Mei Zhan for comments and assistance. The anonymous reviewers for JDS provided generous yet tough feedback that enabled me to sharpen the argument considerably, and for that I am extremely grateful. Research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Law and Social Sciences Program (SES 0960423). The opinions and findings expressed here are those of the author alone. Notes 1. M-PESA and G-CASH rely on mobile phones with SIM chips and SMS capability. A user can charge up value onto their mobile phone and then text-message funds to the user of another mobile phone. This beneficiary can redeem the funds by visiting an agent. Senders must use agents to charge up their mobile phone (although regulatory changes in the Philippines now permit users to load up their mobiles using their Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) account). Some mobile money services are used as a means of protecting one's own money from thieves while travelling, by loading funds into one's account but leaving one's phone at home or sending funds to an agent at one's destination. On the social uses of M-PESA, see Morawczynski Citation(2007). In Latin America, branchless banking systems rely on third-party agents like merchants and employers using POS terminals. Some allow the purchase of mobile airtime, and with bank partners the submission of paperwork for loans and credit (though the decision to extend credit remains with the bank partner, not the agent). See Mas and Kumar (Citation2008). 2. The paradigm, in brief: mobile network operators (MNOs) forge partnerships with banks and with a network of retail agents who serve as cash in/cash out points. At least three models follow: in which the bank or MNO is the primary partner, or the two share the client and the revenues. Even MNO-led arrangements rely on a bank to hold the pooled deposits and/or money loaded into the service by customers. For background on the paradigm, see the GSMA's Mobile Money for the Unbanked blog (http://mmublog.org/) and the CGAP Technology Blog (http://technology.cgap.org). 3. The Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion was also a sponsor: we contributed a token amount in exchange for having our logo displayed on monitors in the exhibit hall during a lunch break. The aim was to get some 'brand recognition' for the Institute and to drum up research collaborators. 4. DFID originated in the foreign and colonial offices of the British government, and, through trade and technical assistance programmes, became allied with the business community. The 2002 International Development Act made poverty alleviation central to DFID's goals. 5. Development studies scholars recognise the value of mobile connectivity and the extreme vulnerability that can result from its absence (Gardner and Ahmed, 2009: 131; Béné, Citation2009: 914). Galperin and Bar (Citation2007) question whether wireless is, in fact, reaching remote regions. 6. On phone sharing, see Burrell Citation(2010), Chipchase Citation(2009), Donner Citation(2008), Rangaswamy and Singh Citation(2009

Digital currency · Mobile payment · Mobile phone · Unbanked · FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance · ICT in Developing Communities · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion