Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia

Mobile money can be a vehicle for improving financial access, particularly among disadvantaged populations. For mobile money systems to play this role, though, members of disadvantaged groups must both enroll in and begin to use mobile money systems. In this paper, we describe a randomized trial con...

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Autores principales: de Brauw, Alan, Gilligan, Daniel O., Herskowitz, Sylvan, Roy, Shalini
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162765
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author de Brauw, Alan
Gilligan, Daniel O.
Herskowitz, Sylvan
Roy, Shalini
author_browse Gilligan, Daniel O.
Herskowitz, Sylvan
Roy, Shalini
de Brauw, Alan
author_facet de Brauw, Alan
Gilligan, Daniel O.
Herskowitz, Sylvan
Roy, Shalini
author_sort de Brauw, Alan
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Mobile money can be a vehicle for improving financial access, particularly among disadvantaged populations. For mobile money systems to play this role, though, members of disadvantaged groups must both enroll in and begin to use mobile money systems. In this paper, we describe a randomized trial conducted in collaboration with a bank in Somali region, Ethiopia, that attempted to stimulate use among recent mobile money enrollees in areas near refugee camps. We provide one group with a small transfer to their mobile money account and another group is told they will receive a small transfer if they first make three transactions of any type within a promotional period. The unconditional transfer induces a 9.3 percentage point increase in customers making at least one transaction, while the conditional transfer has no significant effect. The effect is larger among men, but there is evidence that it also induces use among women.
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spelling CGSpace1627652025-11-06T05:11:39Z Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia de Brauw, Alan Gilligan, Daniel O. Herskowitz, Sylvan Roy, Shalini access to finance refugees gender digital technology currencies finance mobile phones Mobile money can be a vehicle for improving financial access, particularly among disadvantaged populations. For mobile money systems to play this role, though, members of disadvantaged groups must both enroll in and begin to use mobile money systems. In this paper, we describe a randomized trial conducted in collaboration with a bank in Somali region, Ethiopia, that attempted to stimulate use among recent mobile money enrollees in areas near refugee camps. We provide one group with a small transfer to their mobile money account and another group is told they will receive a small transfer if they first make three transactions of any type within a promotional period. The unconditional transfer induces a 9.3 percentage point increase in customers making at least one transaction, while the conditional transfer has no significant effect. The effect is larger among men, but there is evidence that it also induces use among women. 2024-11-26 2024-11-26T17:00:31Z 2024-11-26T17:00:31Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162765 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute de Brauw, Alan; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Herskowitz, Sylvan; and Roy, Shalini. 2024. Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2295. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162765
spellingShingle access to finance
refugees
gender
digital technology
currencies
finance
mobile phones
de Brauw, Alan
Gilligan, Daniel O.
Herskowitz, Sylvan
Roy, Shalini
Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia
title Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia
title_full Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia
title_short Catalyzing financial inclusion: Using incentives to promote mobile money use in Ethiopia
title_sort catalyzing financial inclusion using incentives to promote mobile money use in ethiopia
topic access to finance
refugees
gender
digital technology
currencies
finance
mobile phones
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162765
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