Regulatory considerations for the use of mobile records for retail credit scoring
Monday 16 December, 2013 | Blog | India | Mobile Money | Policy and regulation | South Asia
The RBI Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households asked us to share our thoughts on the use of mobile network operators’ (MNOs) customer data to establish the financial status and credit worthiness of individuals.
Emerging Trends In Mobile Agriculture – Highlights from mAgri’s event at M4D Summit
Monday 16 December, 2013 | AgriTech | Blog | Global | Global | Partnership engagement
The first Mobile for Development Summit provided a unique opportunity to gather first-hand insights from the emerging field of mobile agriculture, and GSMA mAgri team hosted a round-table discussion at the event. The discussion was marked by a great attendance, with ...
Mobile money and virtual currencies for cross border remittances: opportunity or risk?
Thursday 12 December, 2013 | Blog | Building the financial ecosystem | Global | Mobile Money | Policy and regulation
In July 2013, Kipochi Ltd, a Kenyan bitcoin wallet, released a press statement announcing the launch of “a groundbreaking solution that allows people to send/receive bitcoins and convert it to and from an M-PESA balance.”
The role of mobile, tech and mapping in crisis response
Thursday 12 December, 2013 | Blog | Disaster response | Global | Global | Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation | Preparedness
The International Conference of Crisis Mappers (ICCM) was held this November in Nairobi, Kenya, at the African Headquarters of the UN. Olly Parsons was present and discusses his key takeaways here.
GSMA mWomen Working Group meeting Manila: Where do we go next?
Wednesday 11 December, 2013 | Blog | Connected Women | Gender | Mobile access and use | Philippines | South Asia
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, a dedicated group of operators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, and donors came together in Manila for the GSMA mWomen Working Group from November 19 to 21st. This event, co-hosted by Smart and Grameen, was a unique gathering ...
MECS On Site: Mobile opportunities abound in Rwanda
Tuesday 10 December, 2013 | Blog | Digital Utilities | Rwanda | Sub-Saharan Africa | Water
Arriving in the Kigali airport, the ICT4Agri Conference poster and other social media posters set the tone: Rwanda welcomes technology. I was on my way to meet with Living Water International, partners with Portland State University’s Sustainable Water Energy and Environment ...
GSMA mHealth in Nigeria: Innovating mobile solutions that push towards the MDGs
Thursday 5 December, 2013 | Blog | mHealth
Health and Nutrition Landscape It is worrisome that, with less than 2 years to the set date for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the numbers are not looking good regarding the situation of women and children in Nigeria. It is reported that about 53,000 ...
An interview with Yolande van Wyk, CEO of FNB eWallet Solutions
Thursday 5 December, 2013 | Blog | Mobile Money | South Africa | Sub-Saharan Africa
In October 2009, First National Bank (FNB) launched the eWallet in South Africa, a mobile money solution to bridge the gap between the banked and the unbanked. Almost four years later, FNB eWallet is the largest mobile money service in South Africa.
Highlights from GPM’s Francophone Regional Working Group in Senegal
Tuesday 26 November, 2013 | Blog | Connected Society | Rural network coverage | Senegal | Sub-Saharan Africa
GPM successfully convened its first Francophone Regional Working Group in Dakar, Senegal on 7 & 8 November 2013. Co-hosted by TIGO Senegal, a Millicom Group operator, it was attended by 53 people across 30 organisations including MNOs, ESCOs, vendors, solution ...
Banks in Nepal are building interoperable mobile money offerings
Monday 25 November, 2013 | Blog | Interoperability | Mobile Money | Nepal | South Asia
This post is co-written with Arunjay Katakam, MMU's Market Intelligence Analyst. In Nepal, two 3rd party initiatives are attempting to bring together the banks and offer the tools needed for them to successfully operate mobile money.
The Service Maturity Tool: Evaluating the Maturity of mHealth Products & Services
Thursday 21 November, 2013 | Blog | mHealth
I’d like to introduce you to the Service Maturity Tool (SMT), the newest addition to the GSMA mHealth research tools. Over the past year the GSMA has been working on the development of the SMT in collaboration with a varied group of mHealth industry experts ...
Top Takeaways from Mobile for Development Summit
Wednesday 20 November, 2013 | Blog | Global
Last week, senior executives and stakeholders from the mobile industry and development community joined us at the debut thought leadership event, Mobile for Development Summit, in Cape Town. Over the two days, attendees participated in morning plenary sessions focused on our ...
Reading the M-PESA half-year results for 2013-2014
Monday 18 November, 2013 | Blog | Kenya | Mobile Money | Sub-Saharan Africa
Last week, Safaricom released their half year results for 2013-2014, and once again Safaricom continues to impress the industry with their achievements. Monthly active M-PESA customers now stand at an impressive 11.6 million.
Mobile Donation Platforms Contributing to International Relief Efforts for Typhoon Haiyan
Friday 15 November, 2013 | Blog | Disaster response | East Asia and Pacific | Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation | Philippines
As the international response to Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) grows, mobile operators and the humanitarian community are launching donation platforms to help drive the fundraising needed to meet the estimated $301 million dollars required for relief.
Regulatory reforms and the mobile money opportunity for India: GSMA submission to the Reserve Bank of India
Thursday 14 November, 2013 | Blog | India | Mobile Money | Policy and regulation | South Asia
The full potential of digital financial services in India has not yet been realised. Millions of people still lack a viable alternative to the cash economy and informal financial services, and mobile money represent a great opportunity for the country.
Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan): Initial responses and network restoration update
Tuesday 12 November, 2013 | Blog | Disaster response | East Asia and Pacific | Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation | Philippines
On Friday November 9th, one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall, Haiyan - dubbed "Yolanda" locally - hit the Filipino eastern coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar. The devastation was almost complete. We provide an update of our activities here.