Who uses mobile money? What is mobile money used for? This paper describes the mobile money adoption patterns following the experimental introduction of mobile money for the first time in rural areas of Southern Mozambique. We use a combination of administrative and household survey data to...

This paper investigates the tradeoff between competition and financial inclusion resulting from the vertical integration between mobile network and money operators. Joining newly assembled data on mobile money fees through the WayBack machine, with sources on network coverage and financials, we...

In developing countries, mobile telecom networks have emerged as major providers of financial services, bypassing the sparse retail networks of traditional banks. We analyze a large individual-level data set of mobile money transactions in Tanzania to provide evidence of the impact of mobile...

Digital platforms often emerge to meet the needs left unaddressed by missing or underdeveloped institutional infrastructure (i.e., “institutional voids”). We examine the case of “mobile money” and the role it has played in filling voids in credit-market institutions that limit access to...

In developing countries, mobile telecom networks have emerged as major providers of financial services, bypassing the sparse retail networks of traditional banks. We analyze a large individual-level data set of mobile money transactions in Tanzania. Transactions can be classified as (i) money...

This paper investigates the effect of using mobile money technology on children's school participation in low-income societies. We argue that, by reducing transaction costs, and by making it easier and less expensive to receive remittances, mobile money technology reduces the need for coping...

This paper investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial institutions and consumers' adoption of FinTech in payments. We find that the pandemic: [1] Initially had a negative impact on the adoption of FinTech, but favorable short-term regulatory changes have reversed some of the...