Financial Inclusion and How Smartphones Make All the Difference
We don’t fully appreciate the convenience of contributing to a savings account or the beauty of making contactless payments. This is something that we take for granted. Unfortunately, and sadly so, this is not something that is a cup of tea for everyone.
Believe it or not, millions of people globally have no access to a bank account and millions more have never stepped foot into a banking hall.
This might sound unfathomable, especially considering the fact that we live in a digital world, but the assumption that everyone has access to a bank account is simply fallacious. World Bank posits that a whopping 1.7 billion people across the globe is unbanked.
Unbelievable, right? Well, sit down for this one. It gets worse. A whopping 80% of people living in the sub-Saharan Africa don’t use semi-formal or formal financial services. How do these unbanked groups of people access financial services? You guessed it right–smartphones.
These people can achieve financial inclusion through their smartphone devices. While 80% of them have no access to bank accounts, two-thirds of them own smartphones and use those smartphones to shop online and even save money through mobile wallets.
Explosion of Smartphone ownership worldwide
Smartphones have made the world a global village. A few decades ago, it would have been almost impossible to project that approximately 3 billion people own smartphones today. We expect this number to grow by a few hundred millions in the coming years.
Africa has not been left behind. Hundreds of millions of people in Africa own a mobile phone and this has made it possible for people even in the remotest of areas to save money in their mobile wallets and shop online using their digital wallets.
Wondering how? Well, the digital wallets are linked to individual user’s mobile phone accounts, which basically make it easy for them to top up cash using mobile wallets and shop or send money to family and friends from the comfort of their homes.
Smartphone Penetration Is On an Upward Trajectory
There is no slowing down. As more and more people appreciate the central role that smartphones play in accessing important mobile apps, use of social media for connection and whatnot, we expect smartphone penetration to grow exponentially.
The spread of mobile phones to every corner of the world means only one thing: Financial inclusion for the unbanked is a reality. This exponential growth means that the poor and those living in the remotest parts of the world can finally enjoy banking services and inadvertently improve their lives.
While the cost of owning a bank account, the distance to the nearest bank, unemployment, not to mention illiteracy have contributed to the high number of the unbanked, there is still light at the end of the tunnel with continued rise in smartphone penetration.
At hi, we foresee a smartphone and financial revolution through the embrace of cryptos. The more people own smartphones and fully become cognizant of the role that cryptos play in the current financial dispensation, the more they will endeavor to improve their lives through smart financial investment.
At hi, we intend to bring everyone on board. With membership free, our core aim is to achieve financial inclusion for everyone. We promise to manage our customers’ finances professionally, at no fees making everyone feel part of the family.
What’s more? We’ve made it pretty easy for each of our members globally to easily transfer, exchange, or buy money in real-time through the use of social messengers via their smartphones. Our members enjoy industry-leading security, zero fees, and rewards for referrals and transactions.
Financial inclusion is a possibility for everyone!