Mobile Financial Services and the Underbanked: Opportunities and Challenges for Mbanking and Mpayments

This paper focuses on how mobile phones could be used to provide financial services to the underbanked in the United States. Mobile financial services (MFS) in the United States may finally be taking off, after years of lagging behind other countries. There are many new technologies and product offerings that may speed the adoption of MFS, but also many questions that must be answered. As MFS providers begin to resolve these issues and deliver products to end users, they should look to the underbanked as a promising potential market in light of its size, demand for new forms of financial services, and demonstrated willingness to embrace mobile technology. Unlike customers with multiple payment and banking options, underbanked consumers could transfer most of their transactions to their mobile phones if presented with attractive, secure, and accessible MFS products.