Retail payment systems require scale to get off the ground and struggle to grow incrementally, as they need to build trust, reap network effects and overcome chicken-and-egg problems of acquiring both customers and merchants. To overcome these barriers, they must (i) create enough urgency in...

Technology, and in particular the spread of real-time communications networks, permits banks to delegate last mile cash management and customer servicing functions to third-party retail outlets. By making basic deposit, withdrawal, and payment functions available securely through retail shops...

This paper outlines the role of mobile phones in addressing the financial inclusion gap in developing countries and the value of retail payments in jump-starting mobile schemes. It then lays four key challenges in the evolution of mobile money schemes from pure payment mechanisms to vehicles for...

This paper reviews some of the bigger failures and some of the more promising experiences in the use of smartcards and mobile phones as payment platforms in developed countries. We selected just a few examples - from dozens of possibilities - and did not delve into much detail on any given...