Self Bank, Mobile Money and the Emerging Mobile Commerce Global Order

Self-Banking! What does that mean? Does it reallyIn addition to person to person transfers, mobile money
mean I can be my own bank, receiving and keepingand self banking enable you to do such things as fund
deposits for myself? Yes and No. Yes in that you willraising without being limited by time and space. Your
be able to keep and carry with you, your virtual vaulttransactions are instantaneous and can be done
receiving and making payments on demand anywhereanytime. There are no banking hours to observe. You
anytime as you go, using your mobile phone orcan even link your mobile money account to your
Personal Digital Assistant PDA. And no, in the sensetraditional bank account if you so choose.
that you will not need to set up a brick and mortarAre there any concerns about
Wall Street type bank, with a 9 to 5 crew to makemobilemoney|selfbanking?
and receive deposits on your behalf.Yes there are. The first and foremost concern is
But how is that possible? In one word, technology andsafety. How safe are mobile banking and
in another word m-commerce. Thanks to all of them-commerce? Pretty safe, I would say. What about
Social Entrepreneurs who made this convergence ofphishing and identity theft? Well, those are very valid
technology and commerce possible, giving us the platconcerns, but self banking and mobile money accounts
forms through which we can buy and sell, send andare a pin base transaction and only those who know
receive money, and even access our conventionalyour pin can access your account and that is only you.
bank accounts if need be, all from the comfort of ourAlso, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are deploying
mobile device.digital security authentication and processing protocol
The future of banking has arrived. In the middle of allto protect user information and transaction details from
this are Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) andprying eyes.
financial institutions providing the framework holdingAs you can see, Self Banking, Mobile Money and
together the components part of the emergingM-Commerce are new technology cards that have
mobile-commerce order.been dealt and having been dealt, they will be played,
Unlike traditional brick and mortar banking, where youwhether or not you accept it. How you play will
are tied to your bank, self banking and mobile moneydetermine your level of benefits and success with the
are truly liberating, releasing you from the burden ofnew and emerging M-Commerce. The time is now. As
having to do your banking from a particular location. Awith many other past technologies, the early adopters
good case in point are migrant workers in countries likeare the ones that become authorities and make a
South Africa and other parts of the world, sending andfortune with the technology. Get on board the future
receiving money using their cell phones, from very ruraltrain of self banking, mobile money and Mcommerce
areas far away from any brick and mortar bank.today.