A day with the CEO of Fundamo

Tuesday - May 08 / Day Two / Visiting Our Clients
Today, all the consultants visited with their clients. Most went to their client's offices one by one after breakfast at the lodge and our group prayer meeting. My client is the CEO of Fundamo, which is a company that provides mobile banking solutions. They are working to provide mobile banking services to people in emerging economies. There are many barriers for people in developing economies to gain access to basic banking services. Many people in these economies don't live close to a bank and may not have developed a lifestyle of saving and budgeting, so they might not even understand basic financial concepts that would lead them to a traditional bank. They often live in a cash-based society where most people pay with cash or check. Imagine a young man who lives in a remote village of Africa, which often is one or two days drive from a major city or town. He wants to help provide for his extended family, so he moves to a city to find work. After he has earned money he needs to send it to his family. How can he do this? Taking it to them might involve a significant time commitment that he can't afford to do. Often he will pay someone to take the money to his family. It's not uncommon for the person who transports the money to charge him 30 percent of the total amount sent or to keep 100 percent of the money! So the transaction cost and risk is very high. Believe it or not, in many of these remote villages have cell phone coverage or are very close to a mobile network. Using a mobile phone, people can use Fundamo to transfer money to other people and get a transaction record of their payments and bank activity. Mobile banking has the potential to give a huge portion of the worlds "unbanked" population access to basic banking services, which in turn can help them keep more money in their pockets or bank accounts. The concept of microfinance is starting to gain traction around the world as a way to lend small amounts of money to micro enterprises. Mobile banking enables entrepreneurs who tap into microfinance to receive and make payments to fulfill their loan. It gives them access to banking services, because often their local area doesn't have a traditional bank. So far it's been really interesting learning more about Fundamo and how it can change people's lives. I really admire our client's vision for the company and what they are doing. We have been praying and considering ways that the company or our client could be repurposed (if needed) to serve God's larger plans for people in developing economies. Stay tuned...

Kiva is a great way to get involved with microfinance and help entrepreneurs who own and run micro enterprises to gain access to much needed capital.