2009 SXSW Interactive Panel Picker

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Title:

Mobile Ubiquitous Banking and the Future of Money

Your vote:

Level:

Advanced

Type:

Panel

Category:

Mobile / Wireless

Presenter:

Kyle Outlaw, Avenue A | Razorfish

Description:

Nearly half the world's population now has a mobile device and more than a thousand cell phones are being activated every minute. The ubiquity of mobile devices will make new services available to billions of people worldwide who have not had access to traditional banks or credit cards. In developing countries such as Kenya - where nearly 80% of the population is excluded from the formal financial sector - text messaging is being used to transfer money to friends and family living in other countries. Moreover, new forms of currency are being created - trading cell phone minutes for goods and services, for example. This panel will explore the challenges and opportunities as banks go mobile, and how the revolution in mobile financial services will change the way we think about money.

"trading cell phone minutes for goods and services, for example" do you have a URL?

Mobile airtime as a ‘virtual currency’ via ICT Update:

"Perhaps the most remarkable is the use of prepaid airtime – the amount of time that can be spent talking on a mobile – as a sort of currency.

The process is simple, and makes use of prepaid mobile phone cards. Instead of calling the number on the card and entering the code that unlocks the airtime, the user sends the code to someone else via a text massage. The receiver can then trade the code for cash, for example, with a local merchant who needs the airtime or who wishes to sell the code on to someone else. In essence, the airtime is being swapped for cash; airtime has thus become a means of exchange, a 'virtual currency'.

In the past few years, the swapping of airtime for cash has skyrocketed, particularly in areas where prolonged armed conflicts have disrupted formal financial services. In these environments mobile phone operators have thrived, and have provided the infrastructure necessary for using airtime as currency. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, where payment and wire transfer systems are non-existent, mobile airtime is being used by migrant workers who wish to transmit money to their families back home. The system is of course unsuitable for transmitting large sums of money, but for small amounts it is a very workable solution. In some cases, airtime has even been used to bribe officials."

http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/Feature-Articles/Mobile-wallets-and-virtual-currencies

I would definitely like to see this. Banking desperately needs innovation and mobile is going to be one of the driving forces behind it.

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