The role of mobile money in personal finance education

August 28th, 2009

“On its surface Nokia Money sounds very similar to PayPal, but the service is expected to offer deeper money management abilities from a cell phone…..the Obopay service received a “very good” rating from CNET, which praised its “operability with most phones and overall ease of use.”

Another article also noted the important role mobile money can play in financial education: “Access to banking tools such as Nokia Money are incredibly important for low income individuals who, in the absence of banks, rely on check cashing and bill paying locations, whose fees eat into their ability to save money.” One report from January 2008 indicated that if the average non banking customer stopped paying to cash checks, he could save $360,000 over his lifetime in pre-tax money.

In addition to the fee-saving benefit, “the access to banking tools is a fundamental step in getting one’s personal finances in order and moving out of a paycheck to paycheck cycle.”  Since mobile money is a growing global trend, it may become a positive factor in economic development in emerging economies.