Microfinance/M-Commerce thoughts

Been reading focus notes of a recent world bank publication listing Financial Institutions that use E-Payments to serve the poor. Particularly interested on using mobile phones as a means to carry out basic banking transactions.

Was surprised that for the Philippines we only have one entry (Rural Banks Assocations of the Philippines via Globe G-Cash?), and it was only offering one service: Payments.

Anyway, it also mentioned some reasons why potential users are cautious in using m-commerce. Nothing new here, I have mentioned this a couple times in this blog.

- Mobile banking applications are not yet inter-operable.
- Mobile phone payments may not conform to international security standards. And if I may add SMS as a basis for m-commerce transactions just doesn't cut it. Message delivery reliability issues still haunts this platform.
- For banks, a "mobile phone only" channel has not yet proved profitable. Chicken and Egg scenario here.
- Mobile phone banking may not be able to reach the most remote and poor areas. I don't see this as much of a hindrance in the Philippine setting. Rather (as I repeatedly mentioned on this blog) the lack of infrastructure for cash-to-electronic/electronic-to-cash convertions.
- Mobile phone banking may not be easy to use for illeterate and older users. True. Its a fact also that these young at heart would rather stick to tried and tested finance channels.
- Regulation surrounding mobile phone banking is not yet clear. There is no clear cut regulation yet in the Philippines. Am still confused with the whole cellco performing basic banking functions stand (Is it a bank or not?)

And only G-Cash was identified. Where is Smart Money?

Anyway am looking at this from an angle of an industry obeserver. I still lack the depth of a true blooded microfinance expert. Been itching to pursue a graduate study on microfinance, if only it wasn't that expensive!

29 and prime!

29 and prime!

Woot! Turned 29 today!

Happy, thankful to God I have priceless companions, everyday presents that rocks my world! :D

Good times...

Epekto

Epekto

"Ano ba an epekto? Kung meron kang epekto..."

Overheard thru the radio on the FX Taxi on the way to work. Coudn't remember which artist. Except that it sounds familiar to the songs in my youth. Words to live by, if I might say.

treonox
-on a northbound train

Two words...

Portlets and Photography...

That pretty much describes my day to day activities...

Still has a lot to learn.

Code lang ng code... Shoot lang ng shoot...

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

Still the best web app prototyping tool!

Haven't tried Ruby on Rails yet tho.

Apple's Battery Recall

Apple's Battery Recall

Got my brand new spankin' replacement battery courtesy of Senco (Thanks Carlos!). That was quick! Filed for replacement last August 25, and replacement arrived last August 31. Apparently, they called home last week, but our household companion wasn't able to inform us.

Anyway, they called again today and was wondering if am still interested since they need to ship back my old battery to Apple SG. I hurriedly went to the office (sprained my left ankle in the process, avoiding a puddle) and surrendered my old battery, thank them, and left smiling :D

Good times...

Can you feel the love?

This hobby is very addicting. Can't wait to go home and experiment. Thanks to God for giving me such lovely subjects.

Its the Indian, not the Pana

Although, at this day and age, a better Pana can compensate for the not so skilled indian. Hehehe.

Some shots to justify to my lovey that its worth it.







Simply because, captured moments like these are priceless. :D

Hidalgo Adventure

Hidalgo Adventure

Currently in Hidalgo waiting for the shops to open. Hoping to take advantage of the "buena mano" factor to haggle to the last penny. Hoping mang ramon is on a good mood this morn. Hayyy...

Wish me luck. :D

Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Lens (Black)

And when I dream, I dream of you...

Am bitten by the shutter bug, really hard...

The inspirational thread by John "Magic Eye" Chua, is really amplifying the desire even more...

Oh well, sabi nga doon sa thread, "Mangarap ka ng gising". Other notable quotes: "Its the indian and not the pana!". And that a photographer doesnt snap a picture, HE CREATES A PICTURE!

Dream on...

Bob Dylan's iTunes Ad

Modern times for the good ol' rock fellow...

Times are indeed a-changin...

Pentium 4 woes

One of the P4 2.4ghz machine is now only 1.8ghz. Granted its 3 years old. Oh well...

Blog test

Blog test

One, two, tres...

Q&A: Linux Guns for Desktop - OSNews.com

This is related to the issue I had brought up with BiOS a few months back.

In order to have a more efficient advocacy, we have to think past one day affairs such as SFD's! Am not implying we don't have SFD's, am implying we should have plans/strategies aside from SFD's. Choice is good, but thats a hard sell to new users you want to entice to use FOSS.

Oh well... Moving on...

Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL

Shiny!

Hopefully this will drive the cost of a brand new 350D down. :D

Battery Exchange Program iBook G4 and PowerBook G4

Wooot!!!

My iBook is included in the recall. Am eligible to get a new replacement battery for my just out of warranty Bookah Wookah!

Kudos for Apple for being responsible enough. Gotta love the customer love.

Good times :D

Bicolano.org - Beta

Busy, busy bee...

Now on its 3rd attempt, because baby you can bet your pwet I'll do it again. :D

Madya na! Payt sana!

Why is Linux Successful?

You've got to be kidding me?

While certain factors cited there was true, I think they could have explained better.

First on the list: "overcontrol" led to BSD's fragmentation. Isn't the Linux kernel largely decided on by Linus?

Second on the list: "If Mac and Windows didn't suck, people would've used them". DiBona was flame baiting there. The real question is, if Mac and Windows are opensourced will Linux be as successful as it is today? More to the point, as of late I don't think Linux has yet dominated those pretty pie charts in terms of usage.

Hmmmnnn... Must be the weather.

MRT Quickies

MRT Quickies

Currently annoyed by:
- MRT waiting for people to pile up on the platform.
- Being duped replying to a message sent via Chikka. Cmon' how hard is it to slap a "From Chikka" string for all their outbound messages? They are capitalizing on the fact that most (all?) mobile phones use a certain number of digits to match incoming messages from your phone's address book. wonder how many users are duped everyday and the corresponding amount of transactions?


treonox
- on a northbound train

Writely.com re-opened for public consumtion

Oh yeah, the age of collaboration!

Google spreadsheets and writely (acquired by google) is again making the world flatter. This means anyone with internet access and a decent web browser can avail of a an online word processsing application (can load word docs) and spreadsheet app and at the same time allow for group editing/collaboration!

This is great for 3rd world countries like the Philippines, last mile access can benefit for not having the need to purchase costly and expensive word processing application. Imagine a teacher in Bicol editing a study/research together with another teacher in Mindanao or Visayas. Heck imagine NGO's on another side of the globe collaborating with research writers in the Philippines. The possibilities are endless.

Telecommuting craze is just around the bend. :D


The network is the computer.
- Sun Microsystems