

Can mobile banking revolutionize the lives of the poor? - cjdulberger
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7966043/bill-gates-future-of-banking-and-mobile-money

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elcubonegro
More than half of the world's poor don't use banks, and this is a huge problem
for them and the entire system because, not only they are vulnerable to theft,
lost, and exploitation, but it allows narcotics dealers to continue in their
business...

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Tarang
This is true, it has been revolutionary.

There is a bit of a dark side to it that's not often mentioned, mobile banking
isn't exactly a white knight. For example interest rates on mobile
banking/microlending platforms are quite astronomical at over 80% annually
(usually ~8% per month [MPESA/MSHWARI]) which is a bit predatory - I think its
to account for the default rate. Secondly, some countries seize deposits after
2 years of inactivity to an unclaimed financial assets fund (2 years isn't
alot considering the quite-manual processes involved in developing countries
to get your assets back.

On the other hand you get a decent amount of interest on amounts which could
be less than $0.50 worth (so long as you're active) and this is better than
holding cash/any argument against holding cash. It's also easy to transfer
money between people by far.

Competition can probably help with the predatory lending rates.

