the mobile frontier

The Mobile FrontierJAN CHIPCHASE

it takes a teamENAYAT NAJAFIZADA, AIROKOSH FAIZI, MOKHTAR HAJJI, HAMID TASAL, FARIDA

RUSTAMKH, SAM MARTIN, TOM MANNING, KRISTINA LORING, BILL MAURER, JENNY FAN & PANTHEA LEE

rising mobile penetration~50% DENSITY, MANY MULTIPLE SIM OWNERS, AFGHANISTAN TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY, 2010

~4% banking penetrationCGAP: 83 ACCOUNTS PER 1,000 PEOPLE, MANY WITH MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS

team

team

new styles of workingMILTARY, NGO, JOURNALIST

~56 participants25 IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS; 8 HOME VISITS

PAST, PRESENT AND POTENTIAL FUTURE M-PAISA USERS; PEOPLE WITHIN THE AGENT ECOSYSTEM; MANUAL LABOURERS; POLICE OFFICERS; ENTREPRENEURS; RADIO PRODUCER;

CHEMIST; TEACHER; FACTORY WORKERS; STUDENTS; SECURITY GUARDS; ELECTRICIAN; STORE CLERKS; LOCAL NGO WORKERS; CORNER APP STORE OPERATORS; FARMERS

44 MALES / 12 FEMALES

RANGE OF RELIGIOUS; ETHNIC; SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS

research challenges

money is taboo

ramadan

elections

gender divide

security

what did we learn?

stores of valuestores of value

stores of value

stores of value

stores of value

the risks of cash

informal credit

informal credit

everyday graft

financial, mobile, textualliteracy

trust in institutions

tangible vs. digital

finding an agent

social burden

chicken & egg

mobile = disruptive

‘the mobile phone is the biggest enabler of love marriages in

Afghanistan today’FEMALE, 20

‘the mobile phone is the biggest enabler of love marriages in

Afghanistan today’FEMALE, 20