Looking Back at Trends in Branchless Banking in 2012

2013 is already off to a fast start in the branchless banking industry, in particular with lots of news out of India about the government’s new push to further digitize the delivery of welfare benefits to the poor. 

1. Google enters Kenya’s payments market with the beba card. Launched in May, Google’s NFC beba card provides an easy way to pay for transportation, specifically matatu fares. 
2. Easypaisa in Pakistan launches Khushaal, a savings product with embedded insurance. Launched in October, Khushaal offers free life and accidental death insurance to customers who maintain a certain monthly average balance in one’s Easypaisa account.
3. Big telcos make a move in Latin America. A region dominated by a strong banking sector, Latin America saw 2012 usher in several new mobile financial services: Transfer launched in Mexico (in partnership between Banamex, Inbursa and Telcel/Claro) and in Colombia (in partnership with Claro, Grupo Aval, and Citibank); Telefonica and MasterCard launched Wanda in Argentina and a to-be-branded service in Brazil. 
4. M-Shwari launches in Kenya providing access to savings and loans to M-Pesa customers. Through a partnership between Vodafone, Safaricom and the Commercial Bank of Africa, M-Pesa customers can now apply to CBA for a mini-loan and sign up for an interest bearing savings account, directly from their phones. Since its launch in November, M-Shwari has registered 1 million users. 
5. Bancolombia invests in a mobile virtual network operator. In August, the largest commercial bank in Colombia, Bancolombia acquired 70% of UFF!, the first MVNO in Colombia.
6. Visa launches mVisa in Rwanda. A mobile money solution to reach the unbanked, mVisa hopes to overcome the lack of access to physical bank branches by working with different financial institutions and mobile operators. 
7. The trend builds around alternative data. The use of alternative data sources from social media to mobile transactions are now being leveraged by a host of new companies including Cignifi, Lenddo, Sociogramics, Demyst.Data, and First Access. 
8. Several donors announce a new focus on digital cash. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor launched its new strategy focusing on digital financial services. The Better Than Cash Alliance was also launched to bring together several donors and governments to commit to transitioning from cash to digital payments.
9. Fraud hits mobile money. MTN Uganda lost billions of Ugandan Shillings in a case involving employee fraud, one of the first major cases of fraud in the mobile money industry. 
10. A Silicon Savannah emerges in the midst of a mobile tech boom in Kenya. However,  some critics fear app developers and entrepreneurs are losing sight of the big picture