Category Archives: Banking

Mapping global seasonality: national times of abundance and scarcity?

Posted on June 4, 2012 by

Connecting some dots made me think of this exercise. If national governments are increasingly looking at ways to bridge the informal economy with the formal, in order to provide more inclusive benefits to their citizens and at the same time … Continue reading →

Posted in ASEAN, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Culture, Philipines, User research, Banking, India, Informal & Flexible, Africa, Buyer Behaviour, Income, Rural, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Indigenous & Traditional, South Asia, Economy, Cashless transactions, Assumption filter, Migrant worker, South Africa, Kenya, global, Senegal, China | Leave a comment

Financial Inclusion survey and the informal economy

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

Gallup conducted the survey on behalf of the World Bank and their comprehensive synopsis available online (with links to the full report) offers a few more charts in addition to the map above. These look at bank account ownership among … Continue reading →

Posted in Assumption filter, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Economy, global, Income, Savings, User research | Tagged , , ,

Pondering a new prepaid research focus

Posted on December 7, 2011 by

Ever since I completed the first Prepaid Economy study which looked at how those on irregular income streams managed their household finances – focusing on rural Philippines and India – I’ve been curious about rural Kenya. I’ve long wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in About, Africa, Airtime, Alternative currency, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Mobile platform, Rural, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Tagged , , , , , ,

Core values: business models meant to serve the BoP

Posted on June 25, 2010 by

(Republished from old Perspective 2.0 blog March 10th 2009) The biggest shock for me in the Phillippines was learning that airtime minutes purchased on a prepaid plan came with an expiry date. The smaller the amount the faster the expiration. … Continue reading →

Posted in Airtime, Alternative currency, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Design, Income, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Mobile platform, Philipines, Rural, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research

Women Together: Incentivising Savings

Posted on February 21, 2010 by

Mahila Milan means “women together” and provides a decentralised vehicle for the empowerment of women via leadership roles and advocacy alongside its pivotal daily savings collection. Continue reading →

Posted in Banking, Collection, India, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Savings, Urban | Tagged , , , , , ,

Traditional moneylending – informal, flexible, trust based and changing fast

Posted on January 3, 2010 by

Sawai Madhopur, December 30th 2008 As Microfinance Grows in India, So Do Its Rivals is the title of a recent WSJ article by Ketaki Gokhale which begins so, The practice of making tiny loans to poor people, or microfinance, was … Continue reading →

Posted in Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Rural | 1 Comment

Banking on Trust

Posted on December 12, 2009 by

Following up on the Reserve Bank of India announcement to allow small shops and phone kiosks, etc to handle basic services on behalf of banks – I directed questions around potential receptivity amongst Dharavi residents. Continue reading →

Posted in Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, India, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Urban | Tagged , , , ,

Indian Banking Widens Reach

Posted on December 2, 2009 by

Yesterday’s Times of India pointed to a development by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend its services. It has yet to be seen how this initiative will be taken up by BoP users both rurally and in urban neighbourhoods not currently not served by banks. Continue reading →

Posted in Banking, India, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Synthesis of the Prepaid Economy Project

Posted on November 27, 2009 by

The impetus for the Prepaid Economy project came from field observations during other projects which focused on the design and development of products and services for those at the BoP. It was noted that the majority of the BoP lived … Continue reading →

Posted in Airtime, Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Design, Economy, Expenses, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mobile platform, Philipines, Project report, Rural, Savings, Strategy, User research, Value

Some observed behaviour patterns in rural BoP households

Posted on May 14, 2009 by

Collage by Dave Tait Across the regions, we saw patterns of financial behaviour (download PDF) that echoed similarities of intent and goals. For example, at peak times such as the post harvest season, wealth was often stored in the form … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Alternative currency, ASEAN, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, Expenses, Income, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Philipines, Rural, Savings, Sub Saharan Africa, User research