nep-fle New Economics Papers
on Financial Literacy and Education
Issue of 2023‒02‒06
two papers chosen by



  1. Financial inclusion, mobile money and regulatory architecture By Metzger, Martina; Were, Maureen; Pédussel Wu, Jennifer
  2. The payment landscape of B2C e-commerce marketplaces in Latin America and the Caribbean By Gayá, Romina

  1. By: Metzger, Martina; Were, Maureen; Pédussel Wu, Jennifer
    Abstract: This paper discusses first the role of mobile money accounts to enhance financial inclusion towards vulnerable groups in developing countries in the light of recent empirical evidence. Second, we explore the role of regulation to address risks to consumers and the financial system arising from the use of mobile money accounts, a question which has not been thoroughly addressed in the literature. Although financial inclusion via mobile money accounts is increasing, the outreach to particular disadvantaged and poor groups is still limited. However, remittances and G2P payments might develop into game changers for financial inclusion of poor and vulnerable households. Many countries from Sub-Saharan Africa are outperformers in terms of use of mobile money accounts in comparison to developing countries in other regions. Strikingly, the empirical evidence suggests that the regulatory landscape was of strategic importance to unleash the developmental potential of mobile money networks and the crowding-in of formerly unbanked households. Regulation on consumer protection particularly is of strategic relevance for the lasting acceptance and smooth operation of mobile money services and sharing the benefits with disadvantaged and poor households. A lack of effective and convincing consumer safeguards in place could diminish the trust in mobile money services and subsequently their acceptance and use. As mobile money services involve similar risks as traditional banking services, similar rules should apply. In addition, there are risks arising from the particular technology for mobile money account holders and institutions of the financial sector, including DFS providers. To these risks belong hysteresis effects to the disadvantage of poor households due to the use of alternative data and biased algorithms as well as displacement effects in local traditional and digital financial services due to BigTech.
    Keywords: Mobile money, financial inclusion, regulation, consumer protection, digital financial services, Big Data, Sub-Saharan Africa
    JEL: D18 G18 G23 G51 G59
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:2022022&r=fle
  2. By: Gayá, Romina
    Abstract: This paper studies the digital payments landscape of B2C e-commerce marketplaces in Latin America and the Caribbean. It presents the main characteristics of different digital payment methods, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. It also examines how digital payments contribute to financial inclusion and it describes the global and regional trends and prospects. It presents the main findings of an exhaustive analysis of payment methods accepted by more than 550 transactional marketplaces in 33 countries in LAC. It also examines the main obstacles to development of digital payments in LAC, especially regarding cross-border e-commerce, and proposes some initiatives to address those constraints.
    Keywords: COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL, INNOVACIONES TECNOLOGICAS, COMERCIO ELECTRONICO, TECNOLOGIA DIGITAL, FACILITACION DEL COMERCIO, TECNOLOGIA DE LA INFORMACION, TECNOLOGIA DE LAS COMUNICACIONES, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS, ELECTRONIC COMMERCE, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, TRADE FACILITATION, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
    Date: 2022–12–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col026:48557&r=fle

General information on the NEP project can be found at https://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.