This conference brings together the institute's fourth-year award recipients who will present their preliminary findings. As more and more philanthropic, industry and development actors ask whether mobile technology can help provide access to needed financial services like savings and money transfer, these projects look to the experience on the ground of existing, traditional money systems and financial practices, as well as the potential and real impact of new technology in providing access to finance for the world's poor.

December 5-6, 2012
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
UCI Student Center, Doheny Beach Conference Room

Conference program and bios

Video of sessions

Blog of Conference by Liz Losh

 

To view powerpoint presentations click on title

Day 1: Wednesday, December 5

8:15-8:30am      Check-in and Registration

8:30–9:00am    Welcome and Introductions by Director Bill Maurer

9:00–10:30am  Session 1: Money, Mobility, and Practices of the Self
                                 Discussant: Nina Bandelj, UC Irvine

• “Mobile Kin and Mobile Money: The Anthropology of International Remittances in Kenya” (Kenya) by Sibel Kusimba

• “Generating, Storing and Exchanging Value: Comparing Financial Practices in Mexican and Indian Rural Communities” (Mexico and India) by Magdalena Villareal & Isabelle Guerin

• “Mobiles, Migrants and Money: A Study of Mobility at the Haitian-Dominican Republic Border” (Haiti & Dominican Republic) by Heather Horst & Erin Taylor

10:30-11:00am Break

11:00am-12:30pm  Session 2: Shifting Financial and Technological Literacies
                         Discussant: Scott Mainwaring, Intel

• “Material Cultures of Financial Literacy among Rural and Urban Poor in Orissa, India” by Katherine Martineau, Pradeep Baisakh, & Nishita Trisal

• “The Impact of Pure Mobile Microfinancing on the Poor” (Nairobi, Kenya) by Tonny Omwansa & Timothy Mwololo

• “Mobile Money Information System Architecture for Open Air Market” (Ethiopia) by Mesfin  Woldmariam

12:30-2:00pm  Lunch (provided)

2:00-3:30 pm  Session 3: Mobile Money’s Agency in Everyday Behavior & Practices
                          Discussant: Julia Elyachar, UC Irvine

• “Evolving Participatory Relationships for Uplifting Urban Poor Rickshaw Pullers: Next Step Forward” (India) Mani Nandhi & Deepti Kc

• “Making Sense of Mobile Money in Urban Ghana: Personal, Business, Social and Financial Inclusion Prospects” (Ghana) by Vivian Dzokoto & Elizabeth Appiah

• “Delivering Cash Grants to Indigenous Peoples Through ATM and GCASH Remit: Boon or Bane? The Case of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Conditional Cash Transfer Program in the Philippines ” by Anatoly Gusto & Emily Roque

3:30-4:00pm Break

4:00-5:30pm  Session 4: Architectures of Mobile Money:
                                                       Constructing, Combining and Converting Platforms

                              Discussant: Gustav Peebles, The New School of Social Research

• “A Study in Tracking the Shift from Savings to Remittance on the Mobile Backbone: Findings from EKO, India” by Ishita Ghosh & Kartikeya Bajpai

• “A Work Practice Approach to Understanding Actors in Agricultural Markets: Revisiting the Fishermen of Kerala, India” by Jenna Burrell, Janaki Srinivasan & Richa Kumar

•  “' E-SUSU' Operation: Can Mobile Money Revolutionize an Ancient Saving System among Indigenous West Africans” (Ghana) by Eric Osei-Assibey

5:30-7:00pm  Cocktail reception with dinner (provided)

 

Day 2: Thursday, December 6

9:00-10:30am  Session 5: Inclusion and Exclusion in Mobile Money Systems
                                Discussant: Jake Kendall, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• “The Use of Mobile Money Services and Platforms Among the Visually Impaired in Kenya: Any Impact on Poverty Reduction?” by Ndunge Kiiti & Jane Mutinda

• “A Study on Association of Social Capital with Microfinance and Local Saving Programs Among the Muslim Poor in Andhra Pradesh, India” by Rosina Nasir

• “Gender Empowerment and Access to Financial Services in Machakos County, Eastern Kenya” by Simiyu Wandibba, Stevie Nangendo & Benson Mulemi

10:30-11:00am Break

11:00am-12:30pm  Session 6: Designing New MM Models for Financial Inclusion
                                 Discussant: Alladi Venkatesh, UC Irvine

• “Banking the Poor through Mobile Telephony: Understanding the Challenges for Expanding Mobile-Based Financial Services in Latin America” by Roxana Barrantes & Judith Mariscal

• “Impact Research of Farmers' Access to ICT-based Decision Software on Household Savings Generation and Credit Loan Payments” (Philippines) by Allerine Isles

• “Mobile Payment Adoption in Brazil: Investigation of a Pilot Implementation” by Eduardo Diniz, Joao Porto de Albuquerque, and Adrian Kemmer Cernev

12:30-2:00pm  Lunch (provided)

2:00-3:30pm  Session 7: Institutional Cultures and Regulatory Framings:
                                                        Limit Cases in MM Adoption and Uptake

    Discussant: Jonathan Donner, Microsoft Research

• “Resistance to e-Money in Poor Remittances Receivers' Families, Case in Lombok Island, Indonesia” by Catur Sugiyanto, Tiar Shantiuli & Zuhrohtun Zuhrohtun

• “Betting on Chance in Colombia: How Game Operator Networks Succeed in Providing Financial Services to the Poor While Other Networks Stay Behind” by Ana Echeverry, Anny Chou & Coppelia Herran

• “Composing Development? Biometrics, Smart Cards and Financial Inclusion in South Africa's Social Protection Initiative” (South Africa) by Kevin Donovan

3:30-4:00pm Break

4:00-5:00pm  Closing Remarks