Rural Women Banking By Mobile Phone
21.05.12
PLUMTREE, Zimbabwe, Nov 14, 2011 (IPS) - Collecting the monthly subscriptions for her co-operative has always been a
headache for Thelma Nare, 41. This is because Nare lives in Tshitshi, Plumtree in
rural Zimbabwe, about 60 kilometres away from the humdrum of the nearest
town centre where banks are located. "We meet after a long time as here in the rural areas our homesteads can be very far from each other.
So members of our club do not meet or contribute regularly," Nare said.
In fact, the women in the co-operative do not have a bank account. Until recently, Nare and the other
co-operative members had to physically be present to make their monthly contributions.
But now, these "unsophisticated" rural women find themselves at the centre of efforts by mobile phone
service providers to introduce mobile phone money transfers in Zimbabwe.
Those without bank accounts, like Nare and her co-operative, can now send and receive cash via their
Source: Inter Press Service