Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

The pyrrhic victory of FinTech and its implications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: evidence from fieldwork in rural Zambia

The pyrrhic victory of FinTech and its implications for achieving the Sustainable Development... This study investigates the possible effect of mobile money services, which forms part of FinTech, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachThis study uses field data from the Chongwe district of Zambia. The data were collected in 2019.FindingsThe findings strongly suggest that (1) the factors that hinder access to credit and savings by the poor do not simply recede following the adoption of mobile money services and (2) that mobile money is not a silver bullet of ending financial exclusion but merely a tool which contributes to other financial inclusion strategies.Practical implicationsThis study argues that mobile money is winning the battle but losing the war – implying that the service is mainly used to transfer funds (OTC transactions) among users.Originality/valueThis is the first study to have been conducted in Zambia to assess the possible contributing effect of FinTech (mobile money) on SDGs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development Emerald Publishing

The pyrrhic victory of FinTech and its implications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: evidence from fieldwork in rural Zambia

Download PDF
12 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/the-pyrrhic-victory-of-fintech-and-its-implications-for-achieving-the-aBjTTdBw7E
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2042-5945
DOI
10.1108/wjstsd-06-2020-0058
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study investigates the possible effect of mobile money services, which forms part of FinTech, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachThis study uses field data from the Chongwe district of Zambia. The data were collected in 2019.FindingsThe findings strongly suggest that (1) the factors that hinder access to credit and savings by the poor do not simply recede following the adoption of mobile money services and (2) that mobile money is not a silver bullet of ending financial exclusion but merely a tool which contributes to other financial inclusion strategies.Practical implicationsThis study argues that mobile money is winning the battle but losing the war – implying that the service is mainly used to transfer funds (OTC transactions) among users.Originality/valueThis is the first study to have been conducted in Zambia to assess the possible contributing effect of FinTech (mobile money) on SDGs.

Journal

World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development – Emerald Publishing

Published: Dec 2, 2020

Keywords: Financial inclusion; FinTech; Mobile money; Sustainable development goals; Zambia

References

  • Payment mechanisms and anti-poverty programs: evidence from a mobile money cash transfer experiment in Niger
    Aker, J.C.; Boumnijel, R.; McClelland, A.; Tierney, N.
  • The comparative exploration of mobile money services in inclusive development
    Asongu, S.; Asongu, N.
  • Introducing mobile money in rural Mozambique: evidence from a field experiment
    Batista, C.; Vicente, P.C.
  • Finance, inequality and the poor
    Beck, T.; Demirgüç-Kunt, A.; Levine, R.
  • Promises and pitfalls of mobile money in Afghanistan: evidence from a randomized control trial
    Blumenstock, J.E.; Callen, M.; Ghani, T.; Koepke, L.
  • What determines financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa?
    Chikalipah, S.
  • A survey of microfinance institutions and informal finance in Africa
    Chikalipah, S.; Makina, D.
  • Mobile money for financial inclusion
    Donovan, K.
  • Digital financial inclusion - an engine for ‘leaving no one behind’
    Ferrata, L.
  • Risk sharing and transactions costs: evidence from Kenya's mobile money revolution
    Jack, W.; Suri, T.
  • Mobile financial services, financial inclusion, and development: a systematic review of academic literature
    Kim, M.; Zoo, H.; Lee, H.; Kang, J.
  • Mobile financial services and financial inclusion: is it a boon for savings mobilisation?
    Ouma, S.A.; Odongo, T.M.; Were, M.
  • Challenges, benefits, and adoption dynamics of mobile banking at the base of the pyramid (BOP) in Africa: a systematic review
    Pankomera, R.; Van Greunen, D.
  • The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money
    Suri, T.; Jack, W.
  • Smartphones for the unbanked: how mobile money will drive digital inclusion in developing countries
    Villasenor, J.
  • FinTech for financial inclusion: driving sustainable growth
    Zetzsche, D.A.; Buckley, R.P.; Arner, D.W.