Qualcomm Incorporated, through its Qualcomm® Wireless ReachTM initiative, joined Hapinoy, a Filipino-based social enterprise that has developed programs for small, neighborhood convenience stores in the Philippines, in an effort to provide female micro-entrepreneurs the opportunity to generate additional income and provide financial services to their communities. Through the collaboration, micro-business owners are supplied with mobile literacy training, access to capital via microfinance institutions (MFIs), and technology through mobile money operators and technology developers.
Worldwide, 2.5 billion people lack access to financial services such as banks and credit cards, making it difficult for them to make payments and transfer money1.
The Hapinoy Mobile Money Hub project supports micro-entrepreneurs who own and operate mostly home-based stores, known as sari-sari stores. Since its inception, 3,000 of these store owners in the Philippines, mostly mothers (“Nanays” in Tagalog) have been trained by this program.
Aside from not having the know-how to run the systems and technology, the majority of these Nanays can’t afford a point-of-sale-device or card reader, and 37 percent of municipalities in the Philippines lack banking offices2. However, most shop owners do own mobile devices, which they use for basic communications and selling airtime.
Launched in 2013, the Hapinoy project began with a focus on educating these micro-business owners on how they can use mobile technology to expand their business. Now, by collaborating with Qualcomm Wireless Reach, MasterCard, Smart and Grameen Foundation, Hapinoy sari-sari owners are able to use dual-sim smartphones powered by Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 200 processors to access mobile financial services such as mobile money, remittances, and bill and loan payments. The Snapdragon 200 processor is a product of Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated.
In addition, storeowners are able to use the Hapinoy Agent Network to sell airtime and offer new financial services to their communities. These storeowners also play an integral role in helping their communities better understand the use and benefits of mobile money accounts.
For these communities, this advanced wireless solution not only increases traffic and revenue for the sari-sari stores, but it also contributes to community growth and allows these Mobile Money Hubs to serve as potential branches for banks, MFIs and other remittance providers.
The Mobile Money Hub program demonstrates the impact that wireless technology can have on communities beyond communication, and the possibility for mobile devices to serve as a means
No comments:
Post a Comment