10 Questions: Can Phones Fight Poverty?

There are twice as many mobile phone subscribers as bank accounts in Indonesia. Last year, smartphone audience growth in India was almost 80% – the largest in the world. In Kenya, cellular phones have long been a hub for banking transactions. Cell phones as banking access points offer an unparalleled opportunity to improve the livelihood of millions through mobile financial services. Can mobile phones lead the un-banked out of poverty?

Learn more about Fletcher perspectives on mobile banking:

• A student research report on mobile banking in Indonesia, funded by Fletcher’s Global Research Fellowship
• A conversation between Fletcher Dean Jim Stavridis and Professor Jenny Aker on the use of mobile technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa
• The Financial Inclusion research area of the Institute for Business in the Global Context

As part of our “10 Questions” Series, we delve into hard questions of international business not easily answered by a single book, class, discipline, or school of thought. They herald a future where the world and the world of business are ever more interconnected, where decisions can’t be made in a bubble, where real expertise demands deep ‘contextual intelligence.’ This series reflects that contextual intelligence we cultivate in our students in the MIB program.