Technology Enabled Financial Inclusion and Evidence-Based Policy for the Underbanked: A Study of Remote Indigenous Australia

CPRsouth8/CPRafrica2013 conference

15 Pages Posted: 28 Sep 2013

See all articles by Vinita Godinho

Vinita Godinho

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog (RMIT University)

Supriya Singh

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog (RMIT University)

Date Written: September 5, 2013

Abstract

Mobile technologies are proving transformative in enabling financial inclusion across both the developing and developed worlds. Policymakers in developing countries are at the forefront of innovative financial inclusion policies. In Australia however, the nearly universal access to banking draws attention away from a growing underbanked population, and technology-enabled financial inclusion is not yet on the policy radar. Remote Indigenous communities are the most financially and digitally excluded group in Australia. The literature on the use of mobile phones in these communities, and patterns of money management and banking is fragmentary. For underbanked Indigenous participants, their remoteness, combined with cultural preferences for face to face banking, means that many people pay higher account keeping and transaction fees. Though many have access to mobile phones (half of which are smart phones), mobile phone banking is not yet popular. An ongoing study of money, banking and mobile phones in remote Indigenous Australia frames the design and policy problems for industry and government. It outlines a methodology for gaining evidence about the underbanked and identifying user problems. It also suggests ways of designing ‘culturally appropriate’ financial products, services and education programs, which can be followed to address financial exclusion of other underbanked communities in Australia.

Keywords: Underbanked, Financial Inclusion, Consumer, Broadband, Indigenous Communities

Suggested Citation

Godinho, Vinita and Singh, Supriya, Technology Enabled Financial Inclusion and Evidence-Based Policy for the Underbanked: A Study of Remote Indigenous Australia (September 5, 2013). CPRsouth8/CPRafrica2013 conference , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2331884

Vinita Godinho (Contact Author)

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog (RMIT University) ( email )

124 La Trobe Street
Melbourne, 3000
Australia

Supriya Singh

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog (RMIT University) ( email )

124 La Trobe Street
Melbourne, 3000
Australia

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