Seminar: Digital Financial Inclusion: Challenges in the Use of IDs for Mobile Money Services
Karen Sowon
Postdoctoral Research Associate, CyLab
Carnegie Mellon University
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
10:00 - 11:00 AM
1100 Torgersen Hall
Abstract
Mobile money has become central to financial inclusion. It has provided an effective digital tool to extend basic financial services to individuals in Africa, and other developing economies who would otherwise be financially excluded. Given the financial inclusion barriers arising from traditional brick and mortar banking services, mobile money adopts some unique implementation features to overcome challenges---like those related to access. For example, human agents act on behalf of mobile money providers to offer last mile access and provide a trusted mechanism for people to transact. Other important dimensions like security are achieved through know-your-customer (KYC) procedures such as SIM registration using official identification and/or biometrics. In this talk, I will discuss the insights from two user studies in Kenya and Tanzania, on the challenges that arise from such mobile money implementation features. I will specifically talk about issues related to identification requirements, and interactions between users and agents in the mobile money ecosystem. I will also highlight some implications to research and policy and future research directions.
Biography
Karen Sowon is a postdoctoral research associate at CyLab---the security and privacy institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Her research lies in the broader domain of human-computer interactions where she investigates the opportunities, challenges, and impacts of new and emerging technologies on people and society, especially among underserved and understudied populations with an interest in two main aspects. The first concerns the behavioral and socio-cultural aspects of digital technology adoption and use. The second concerns human factors of privacy and security. Through her work, she aims to promote the design of culturally relevant, safe, and usable digital technologies. Before joining CMU, Karen was at the University of Cape Town in South Africa where she received her Ph.D. in Information Systems. Her doctoral research investigated the socio-cultural issues affecting the use of mobile health interventions for healthcare-seeking among maternal health clients in Kenya.