Smartphones

Cell Phones Calling for Bank Development

In the Philippines, people spend more on cell-phone calls than food. Every day, the country`s operators process two billion text messages, an average of 15 per person. This is possible thanks to the country`s powerful cell-phone infrastructure. Philippine banks, on the other hand, are not so prolific: for every 10 cell phones, there`s only one credit card. Continuing their study of how developing countries could embrace banking services on a broad scale, Francesc Prior and Javier Santomá of IESE turn their attention to the Philippines. Better mobile banking there, they say, could improve the standard of living for millions of people.

Source: IESE Insight