From Microfinance to Mobile Phones

The majority of the world’s mobile phone users live in the developing world. How can we ensure that the mobile phone is a force for economic good?

Three billion people around the world are still living in poverty (under $2.50 a day) – and only one in 10 people have access to the basic financial services taken for granted in the developed world. However, two out of three people living in such poverty have access to a mobile phone – meaning that this simple tool holds tremendous potential to transform the way the poor save and access money.

These statistics, both sobering and promising, were just a few of the highlights from Grameen Foundation’s year-end webinar, which is now available online [1].

During the webinar, Grameen Foundation President and CEO Alex Counts [2] and Vice President of Financial Services Camilla Nestor [3] gave a detailed summary of our accomplishments this past year – for example, highlighting how farmers in Uganda helped by our Community Knowledge Worker initiative [4] are now getting an increased price for crops like maize, and how more than 70,000 poor women in India are now saving via the mobile phone [5].

Camilla also discussed exciting new innovations, such as the AppLab Money Incubator [6] in Uganda, that will increase the current number of people using the mobile phone for financial services [7] – now estimated at only 60 million users – so that the billions of mobile phone users who are also living in poverty will be able to borrow, save, lend and access money whenever they need it. How can the poor do all of this with a simple mobile phone? Watch the webinar and find out now. [1]

To help spur more innovations that help the poor to help themselves, donate to Grameen Foundation today [8].