This is a good example of how to be a Force for Good business because both companies have seen beyond their own boundaries, cooperated together, and have developed a service that helps people at the 'bottom of the pyramid'.
Clearly, with the potential market of USD268 billion, this decision also makes good business sense for both companies. But together they have come up with a solution that is technically innovative, collaborative, and will have a transformative effect on many people's lives.
Mr O P Bhat, chairman of India's largest bank, the State Bank of India, said of a similar project announced by the GSM Association and Mastercard: "This project has the potential of transforming the lives and economies across the globe."
Description
This initiative combines Vodafone’s global mobile network and brand recognition with Citigroup’s worldwide payments and global remittance solutions.
It builds upon Vodafone’s recent successful pilot in Kenya of the M-PESA mobile money transfer service by its affiliate, Safaricom.
It is expected that the service will be trialled to allow Vodafone customers in the United Kingdom to send money to Kenya, before being expanded to cover remittances to Eastern Europe (eg Poland) and Asia (eg India).
The sender will be able to send the money using either their mobile phone or an Internet website. The money will then be able to be sent either to a bank account, or to the mobile phone of somebody who does not have a bank account. The receiver would then be able to collect the funds (in cash) at a variety of locations.
For some developing countries, remittances from migrant workers can be as high as a third of GDP. The United Nations estimates that globally there are around 191 million migrant workers sending money home, which the World Bank estimates has a total annual worldwide value of USD268 billion.
The GSM Association and Mastercard have announced a similar scheme, of which Mr O P Bhat, chairman of India's largest bank, the State Bank of India, said: "This project has the potential of transforming the lives and economies across the globe."
Source
The combined press release is here:
www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2007/vodafone_and_citigroup.html
and here:
www.citi.com/citigroup/press/2007/070212b.htm
The GSM Association and Mastercard have announced a similar scheme:
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/13/mobile_money_transfer/
The American Center for Democracy worries that the system will be used by terrorists and criminals:
www.acdemocracy.org/article/invent_index.php?id=345