Principal Investigator Robert Townsend
This project assesses a class of models and money and the payments system in the context of mobile banking and electronic money transfer technologies and the lessons that can be learned. In collaboration with Billy Jack of Georgetown University and Tavneet Suri of MIT Sloan, analysis of Safaricom's popular and rapidly-growing M-PESA mobile banking program is conducted. This SMS-based money transfer system allows individuals to deposit, send, and withdraw funds from a virtual account on their cell phones, separate from the banking system. Jack, Suri, and Townsend explore the role of e-money and its impact on monetary and regulatory policy decisions that face the central bank.