The Next Phase in the Democratization of Financial Services for the Unbanked.
The genius of Mobile Money is its ability to support micro-transactions, and of course also the fact that it lacks all the barriers to adoption that traditional banking not only had at its core, but also prided itself on.
According to the World Bank, approximately 11% of the world’s populationlives on less than $1.9 a day today; and of those approximately half are from Sub-Saharan Africa. It goes without saying that living on less than $1.9 a day will ultimately limit the quality of life one can live; however, this statistic on its own lacks some much needed context.
In Uganda for example, $1.9 equates to a little over 7,000 Uganda shillings. Due to the relative cost of living, and low food prices, that would be enough money to buy enough food to feed a family of four three full meals, and leave a little money over to save for another day. And keep in mind that the $1.9 statistic is a per capita statistic, so if we were to extend that ratio to a family of four, they would have $7.6 or 28,000 shillings altogether. A Ugandan family that spends or has access to 28,000 shillings everyday is actually living a pretty decent life!
Given this basic understanding of the cost of living in much of the developing world, it is thus evident that most people are making transactions of $1 — $2 a day at most. This is important to understand because it underscores why Mobile Money was so successful and why traditional banking was never going to be a viable financial solution for most people living in these circumstances. Today, the volume of money transacted on Mobile Money dwarfs the amount of money transacted through banks. This was the first phase in the democratization of financial services for the unbanked masses.
As much as Mobile Money ushered in a new era of financial services in Sub Saharan Africa, at its core, the technology is limited greatly to not just regional boundaries, but also mobile carrier boundaries. This means that it is quite difficult (and expensive) to send money to your friend on a different mobile carrier than you, and it is near impossible to send money to your friend in a different country than yours.
Chipper will allow you to send money anywhere
Enter Chipper. At Chipper, we believe that the second phase of this democratization of financial service is going to entail breaking down regional and currency barriers that limit people from sending money to whoever they want to. Imagine you are a farmer in Kenya and you could send your produce to Rwanda and seamlessly receive payment for your goods without having to leave your farm — and without having to pay ridiculous fees too! Imagine you’re a Ghanaian working in London and you want to send some money to your family back home; wouldn’t it be convenient if you could do just that for virtually free? Imagine if your money was accepted everywhere, wouldn’t that be nice?
This is the second phase, and at Chipper we are working hard to make this ideal a reality in our time. We’re building a truly global wallet, that we believe will become your global passport, and will usher in a new age of business and life. Stay tuned, we’re launching this fall.
-Your friends at Chipper
