real stories of the underbanked

You have probably not heard about Mobile Money or Self Bank. May be you have, and simply shrugged it off as another one of those passing fad. But whether you have not heard about it or did and shrugged it off, does not really matter. What matters is that Mobile Money and Self Bank are here to stay and will affect the way you live your life and carry on financial and commercial transactions in the near, if not very near future.Now if you thought Mobile Money and Self Bank, are a passing fad, may be, just may be, a quick who is who in the Mobile Money and Self Bank world will quickly jolt your belief. You know, recently I was sharing the WIZZIT BANK of South Africa success story with a friend and when I was done, he looked at me and said that would never work. He proceeded to give me a list of why it would not work. And you are probably making your own list now of why it would not work- fraud, lost phones, money laundering, special interests etc, but wait until you see who is behind all this.Earlier this year, there was a Mobile Money, and Self bank summit and here are some of the presenters and the minds shaping the emerging cashless, mobile money, mcommerce global economic order.In his presentation at the conference titled "Regulating Mobile Money: A Payment System Perspective" Massimo Cirasino, Head, Payment Systems Development Group, and The World Bank Co-Chairman, CPSS/WB Task Force on General Principles for International Remittance Services, has this to say, "Mobile Money is very likely "to provide more options to more people" in line with Guideline 11 of the CPSS Guidance on National Payment System Development. However, in order to be effective, mobile payment initiatives should become an integral part of the country's strategy to reform the retail..." There you have it, the world's apex banker says, Mobile money is a better option and should be adopted as an integral part of national reforms. I can hear him loud and clear, how about you?The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), speaking in a presentation titled "The Mobile Virtual Banking Operator (MVBO) redefining what it means to be 'banked'" You can see that Mobile money is bringing a new definition to banking. The paper goes on to say, "The global cash management ecosystem already exists. The mobile phone industry has built a sophisticated payments and billing infrastructure to support its core business. It's a huge asset!!" RBS recognizes the tremendous integration traffic and transactions streams that exist in the MNOs infrastructure and is willing to tap into it. They go on to say, that "Mobile banking -underpinned by a payments network -is a hugely attractive customer proposition. Fast, convenient, secure, lower cost than most existing mechanisms..."NTT DoCoMo,Inc of Japan, also speaking at the conference noted, "'Nanaco' provided by Seven-Eleven Japan, Co. is a prepaid e-money service by Seven-Eleven" it launched in April 2007. "Ever since Nanaco started, it has increased numbers rapidly up to 5 mil subscribers in 6 months. Over 10% of the subscribers are "Nanaco mobile" users*".For more info visit  real stories of the underbanked Todd Achilles, speaking for Affinity Mobile, a Dallas based mobile network operator, founded in 2004, said Affinity Mobile's focus will be on the "prepaid and underbanked, delivering value, not technology" to both Developed and Developing economies.Wizzit Bank of Athens, South Africa, is one of the early adopters and has recorded some significant success. Here is what Wizzit has to say. "There are 4 billion people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Most have no bank account, yet they represent a $5 trillion market". Their mission in their own words is "We will bank the un-banked in the world utilizing mobile payments technology". It's all about integration!And finally, Michael Knott of Accenture a leading vendor, says there are "An estimated 10 million wallets globally as of end 2007. The question here is: What can be done to accelerate the global adoption of mobile wallets from the current stage of very early adoption?".The list goes on but the point is well made. Mobile Money and Self bank are two side of the same card- Mobile Commerce or Mcommerce. It has been dealt as we can see. It is a very attractive card and holds great potentials for all. It will be played with or without you or me.  Get more details here