Mobile Banking
m-banking Mobile banking and economic development: Linking adoption, impact, and use Jonathan Donner, Microsoft Research India Camilo Andres Tellez, London School of Economics and Political Science Reference Information: This is a preprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the Asian Journal of Communication, © 2008 Asian Media and Communication Center; available online at informaworldTM at http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=01292986&volume=18&issue=4&spage=318
Temporary Citation: Donner, Jonathan and Tellez, Camilo. (2008). “Mobile banking and economic development: Linking adoption, impact, and use”, Asian Journal of Communication, 18(4), 318-322. Abstract Around the globe, various initiatives use the mobile phone to provide financial services to those without access to traditional banks. Yet relatively little scholarly research explores the use of these m-banking/m-payments systems. This paper calls attention to this gap in the research literature, emphasizing the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/mpayments use. Presenting illustrative data from exploratory work with small enterprises in urban India, it argues that contextual research is a critical input to effective “adoption” or “impact” research. Further, it suggests that the challenges of linking studies of use to those of adoption and impact reflect established dynamics within the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) research community. The paper identifies three crosscutting themes from the broader literature—amplification vs. change, simultaneous causality, and a multidimensional definition of trust—each of which can offer increased theoretical clarity to future research on m-banking/m-payments systems. Notes on contributors Jonathan Donner is a researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft Research, where he studies the social and economic impacts of mobile communication
Temporary Citation: Donner, Jonathan and Tellez, Camilo. (2008). “Mobile banking and economic development: Linking adoption, impact, and use”, Asian Journal of Communication, 18(4), 318-322. Abstract Around the globe, various initiatives use the mobile phone to provide financial services to those without access to traditional banks. Yet relatively little scholarly research explores the use of these m-banking/m-payments systems. This paper calls attention to this gap in the research literature, emphasizing the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/mpayments use. Presenting illustrative data from exploratory work with small enterprises in urban India, it argues that contextual research is a critical input to effective “adoption” or “impact” research. Further, it suggests that the challenges of linking studies of use to those of adoption and impact reflect established dynamics within the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) research community. The paper identifies three crosscutting themes from the broader literature—amplification vs. change, simultaneous causality, and a multidimensional definition of trust—each of which can offer increased theoretical clarity to future research on m-banking/m-payments systems. Notes on contributors Jonathan Donner is a researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft Research, where he studies the social and economic impacts of mobile communication