Of the blue-chip management consultants, I have always thought of McKinsey's as the most serious. They will not try and get on a hype-wave and sell you unproven concepts. When you contract McKinsey's you expect level-heading, robust solutions. This is a block-buster consulting company with a brand that top executives relate to. This is why it was with interest that I read a recent article in the McKinsey Quarterley called: "Capturing the promise of mobile banking in emerging markets". (Read here).The article says that the deployment of mobile financial services is a "strategic shift" for mobiel operators and an attempt to counter slowing subscriber numbers and reduction in profits. Big words coming from a major management consultancy. What I liked most about the article is all the numbers:
- For every 10,000 people, developing countries have one bank branch and one ATM—but 5,100 mobile phones.
- Mobile devices reduce the cost to serve customers with financial services by 50 to 70 percent
- About 45 million people without traditional bank accounts use mobile money, but predict that this number could rise to 360 million by 2012
- In less than three years, the opportunity could generate $5 billion annually in direct revenue