The adoption of "Transformational Mobile Banking" by the Unbanked: An Exploratory Field Study

Abstract

Whereas the number of people using mobile phones grows tremendously across the developing world, the number of people having a bank account is still very low. A recent report shows that over half the population of the world is unbanked, a majority of which are rural dwellers in the developing world. The primary aim of this exploratory study is to examine whether or not m-banking services can be transformational. During the study, an extensive review of the literature on the unbanked and the adoption of m-banking services was conducted. This was followed by a focus group discussion which was conducted among the unbanked rural dwellers in Ghana. The current study concludes that the transformational potential of m-banking could be realised if beyond access, the other barriers to having a bank account, which include affordability, trust, convenience and documentation are addressed effectively in its deployment.