Help for poor to access banking

Bill Gates' charitable foundation has pledged $12.5m (£8.6m) to help the world's poor access banking services. The BBC reports.

Working in conjunction with the mobile phone industry, the foundation aims to help provide a basic service that local banks are unable or unwilling to give.

It is thought that more than a billion people worldwide do not have a bank account but do have a mobile phone.

The foundation says that extending banking services to the world's poor is vital for economic progress.

... Research by consultants McKinsey estimates that the mobile money market for people without a bank account could grow to $5bn over the next three years.

Related: - Bill Gates grant to extend mobile banking to poor

emily | 11:14 AM | Mobile phone projects - Third World, SMS and Banking |
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