Séminaire avec François Fall et Luis Orozco : "Adoption and use of mobile banking by low income individuals in Senegal" MD 305 - 14h

Résumé : The wide use of mobile phones is opening the possibility for low-income individuals to access a large range of services. One of these services is banking through the use of mobile phones, i.e., mobile banking or m-banking. Today, m-banking represents a key vector of financial inclusion in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Senegal. This paper studies the determinants of the adoption and use of m-banking in Senegal. It is based on technology-adoption theories, particularly applied to households, existing within a general framework of technology leapfrogging by developing countries. We distinguish between possession (adoption) from actual use of m-banking. The study is based on a sample of 1052 individuals in the suburbs of Dakar. Our main results are that the two decisions (adoption and use) are not independent from each other. Individual characteristics, such as education, possession of a bank account and family network effects, are determinants of the adoption, while age, gender and being a member of a tontine are determinants of the use. In addition, the main sources of information leading to the adoption of m-banking come both from formal sources, such as promotions from mobile operators, and informal, such as family and friends.