ITREALMS: Can cryptocurrencies reduce global poverty?
A study in rural India found that rewarding mothers with lentils once their child completed a stage of immunization, increased full immunization from 5% to 38 per cent In Mexico, the federal government issued micro cash transfers to low-income families on a monthly basis as a reward for school enrollment, which increased by nearly 15%. And in Northern Uganda where I conducted research on Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCTs), we found that 85.7 per cent of participants reported turning a profit with their businesses after they received UCTs.
Consumers living in poverty require low-cost, instantaneous transactions. Currently, the flavor of the month is still mobile money, which has processed over $269 billion over the last 12 months in transactions. Two-thirds of these transactions had a total value of under $0.80.
Mobile money has been a step in the direction of greater inclusiveness but it continues to fall short as a viable option for impoverished consumers as they simply cannot afford to pay the 2% or more of their earnings just to receive it.
*Courtesy: Tricia Martinez is the Founder and CEO of Wala a mobile financial platform built on the blockchain for emerging market consumers.