What Kenya can teach its neighbors — and the US — about improving the lives of the “unbanked”

From Kelsey Piper / Vox: Mobile banking in Kenya has increased economic mobility for families living in poverty. The mobile money system is not connected to bank accounts, making it accessible to the overwhelming majority of Kenyans who don’t have bank accounts but do have cell phones. Mobile banking allows deposits and withdrawals as well as transfers, and has allowed families to save money to use when their income, often from farming, takes a hit thus creating a security net for themselves and allowing them to receive funds from friends and family. Savings allow families to meet basic needs and access medical care if necessary.

Read the original story here.

Issue Areas:

Financial Institutions, Poverty Reduction Measures, Public Banking, Technology

Impact Areas:

Equity

Actors:

Lending, Banking, and Financial Institutions, Workers / Labor Unions

Communities Served:

Communities Experiencing Economic Hardship, Rural Communities, Workers

Strategies:

Collective Action, Designing Culturally Specific Solutions

Success Factors:

Building Distribution Systems, Eliminating Barriers, Empowering People, Expanding Access, Leveraging Technology, Meeting People Where They Are At, Overcoming the Big Challenges, Using A Comprehensive Approach

Geographic Region:

Africa

Countries:

Kenya

Date:

September 11, 2020

More Resources:

Conversation with Avriel Diaz

Avriel Diaz co-founded and serves as the president of Walking Palms Global Health, an organization focused on building community resilience amidst climate and environmental disasters. She has dedicated years to forming international transdisciplinary partnerships aimed at enhancing community resilience in...

Conversation with Luis Camargo

Luis Camargo is the Founder and Director of the Organization for Environmental Education and Protection (OpEPA). OpEPA is a non-profit organization that holds registrations in both Colombia and the USA and is dedicated to promoting nature-based and regenerative education, heritage...

Conversation with Ashish Kothari

Ashish Kothari, based in Pune, India has helped found or coordinate a number of organizations, movements, and processes, including Kalpavriksh, Vikalp Sangam, ICCA Consortium, Radical Ecological Democracy, and the Global Tapestry of Alternatives. He is co-editor of Alternative Futures: India...

Conversation with Sheeza Shah

Sheeza Shah is Founder and Managing Director of UpEffect, a crowdfunding and social impact consultancy shaping a benevolent economy through equitable finance and strategy. Sheeza has spent the past decade in the tech, non-profit, and social enterprise world project managing...

Conversation with Alfredo Jose Brillembourg

Alfredo Jose Brillembourg is the founder of Urban–Think Tank Design Group, with offices in New York, São Paulo, Caracas, Oslo, Geneva, and Cape Town. Through his leadership at Urban–Think Tank, he has spearheaded innovative architecture and urban design projects globally,...

Conversation with Caroline Sinders

Caroline Sinders is a machine-learning-design researcher and artist. For the past few years, she has been examining the intersections of technology’s impact in society, interface design, artificial intelligence, abuse, and politics in digital, conversational spaces. Sinders is the founder of...