Category Archives: Prepaid Dominant Markets

When cash is not king

Posted on April 14, 2024 by Niti Bhan

This is the first time I’m seeing data on a prepaid dominant economy where cash is NOT king. Here is the source file including details of research methodology. Sampling was conducted in all the major economic regions of this East … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Alternative currency, Banking, Cashless transactions, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, informal economy, Mobile platform, Prepaid Dominant Markets, Rural Economy, Service Design, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on When cash is not king

Reconceptualizing the Informal in the Informal economy

Posted on February 3, 2024 by Niti Bhan

One of the reasons for restarting this blog after a ten year hiatus was the transformation of my own perspective vis a vis the majority of the world’s population. Beginning with labels such as Bottom of the Pyramid (the BoP), … Continue reading →

Posted in Assumption filter, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Economy, global, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, informal economy, Prepaid Dominant Markets, Rural Economy, Strategy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Reconceptualizing the Informal in the Informal economy

Service Design for Prepaid Dominant Markets: MPesa as a Narrative Tool

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Niti Bhan

Scholarship over the past 15 odd years or so tends to frame M-Pesa – a mobile money transfer system pioneered in Kenya – as a tool for poverty alleviation and “development”. However, its creators never conceived of it as such. … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Flexibility, Informal & Flexible, informal economy, innovation, Kenya, Migrant worker, Mobile platform, Prepaid Dominant Markets, Rural Economy, Service Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Service Design for Prepaid Dominant Markets: MPesa as a Narrative Tool

Increasing the customer’s span of control seems to imply success

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Niti Bhan

We broke down the basic concept of the ‘pay as you go’ or prepaid mobile plan – in general, discounting the details of the various different strategies and pricing/time plans of different countries as a way to begin understanding what … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Assumption filter, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Design, Informal & Flexible, informal economy, innovation, Mobile platform, Prepaid Dominant Markets, Rural Economy, Service Design, Strategy | Tagged | 1 Comment