For the unbanked, is mobile money cheap enough? CGAP releases pricing study across 16 providers in 10 countries
By admin | May 30, 2010 | 1 Comment
By Jim Rosenberg
My colleagues Claudia McKay and Mark Pickens have pulled together a comprehensive global pricing study on banking services targeting poor, unbanked and underbanked people in Africa, Asia and Brazil (pdf). The study examines pricing for services targeting unbanked and underbanked poor people in 10 countries.
The conclusion: mobile banking and other forms of branchless banking are cheaper than traditional banking, but the gap between the two may not be as wide as some may think.
On average, branchless banking is 19% cheaper than banks. Why isn’t the pricing gap wider? Mobile money providers might be keeping profits for themselves and not passing them on in lower costs. There could be a good reason.
It is possible that establishing a successful, scaled branchless banking service could be more expensive than expected. Some branchless banking providers want to leave room to come down on prices as more competitors enter the market.
Read more of the story at the CGAP Technology Blog.
Tags: branchless banking > easypaisa > mcb mobile > mobile banking
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June 2nd, 2010 @ 11:12 am
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