Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid

by Carol Realini, Karl Mehta

Overview

As incredible as it may seem in this hyper-connected, technologically advanced era, half the planet's population exist as "Financial nomads"-those who nourish and shelter themselves without using traditional banking services. While the wealthy live at the top of a metaphorical pyramid, taking financial security and banking services for granted, there are billions of people who struggle at the pyramid's base in an exhausting state of financial exclusion and insecurity.

Times are changing rapidly, but despite global uncertainty, technology has the capacity to reach and equip people in all walks of life. Advances in communications have reconfigured the ease with which we interact with our money-and these advances can provide innovative financial services to the unbanked and underserved around the world. Financial inclusion for all is indeed within our reach, and with this conviction, authors Karl Mehta and Carol Realini propose a vision for a better world and a blueprint to get there.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781460265529
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	07/15/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

An expert in financial service innovation, Carol Realini is a serial entrepreneur and globally-recognized technology pioneer. Attending the World Economic Forum, she led global discussions on alternative banking. Recognized as a top woman in Silicon Valley, she sits on boards and advises financial services and mobile companies. Carol and Karl, considered thought leaders by their peers, both share a passion for financial services that empower people's life and work, and have thus collaborated to present Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
For more information, please visit www.carolrealini.com

Karl Mehta is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. He is founder & CEO of PlaySpan (acquired by Visa), a global alternative payment network. Karl also served as the White House Presidential Innovation Fellow working on the "Better Than Cash Initiative." He is an active investor in Edtech and Fintech and Founder / CEO of EdCast Inc. For more information, please visit openfininc.org, edcast.com/FinIncBOP and edcast.com/karlmehta.

An expert in financial service innovation, Carol Realini is a serial entrepreneur and globally-recognized technology pioneer. Attending the World Economic Forum, she led global discussions on alternative banking. Recognized as a top woman in Silicon Valley, she sits on boards and advises financial services and mobile companies. Carol and Karl, considered thought leaders by their peers, both share a passion for financial services that empower people's life and work, and have thus collaborated to present Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
For more information, please visit www.carolrealini.com

Karl Mehta is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. He is founder & CEO of PlaySpan (acquired by Visa), a global alternative payment network. Karl also served as the White House Presidential Innovation Fellow working on the Better Than Cash Initiative. He is an active investor in Edtech and Fintech and Founder / CEO of EdCast Inc. For more information, please visit openfininc.org, edcast.com/FinIncBOP and edcast.com/karlmehta.

Editorial Reviews

2015-09-22
A detailed account of how new technologies are helping people excluded from traditional financial services, resulting in large-scale industry disruption. About 2.5 billion people—half the world's adult population—are effectively excluded from financial institutions and instruments largely taken for granted by the other half. For the poorest population, this means that even the simplest tasks—cashing a paycheck, sending a remittance to a family member, applying for a small loan, etc.—are either impossible or prohibitively expensive. Oftentimes, merely opening a bank account is daunting due to the onerous deposit requirements or demands for multiple identification documents. The modern banking world is built like a pyramid: cheap and effective for those who comfortably reside at the top and predatory for those stuck at the bottom. Debut authors Mehta and Realini, both veteran entrepreneurs with backgrounds in financial-services innovation, depict the plight of these "financial nomads" addled with practical burdens, not to mention their regular indignities. The good news is that sophisticated alternatives—especially ones built on easily accessible mobile platforms—now offer much needed relief. The authors discuss several specific programs that have already become widely adopted in places like Kenya, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. Not only are these systems achieving great success, they are also compelling a sea change within the all-too-exclusionary banking sector. The book includes a discussion of practical ways to improve financial inclusiveness, like revising an antiquated system for formulating credit scores worldwide. The more sweeping argument the authors make is that these looming changes will not only benefit the poorest, but will generally stimulate economic growth and encourage increased governmental transparency. This is an impressively lucid work that necessarily engages highly technical issues in accessible prose. Underlying every analytical insight is refreshing optimism regarding the future of international financial services. While readers might not agree with the sentiment expressed in the foreword, written by Jeffrey D. Sachs, that the "end of poverty is coming our way," it's hard to disagree that welcome changes are here, with more on the horizon. A provocative and heartening look at a revolution in financial services.

Kirkus Reviews