On the GSMA's Mobile Money for the Unbanked blog, Valerie Rozycki, Head of Strategic Initiatives at India's mChek, writes about how, by focusing on catering and delivering mobile money services to women, telecom operators, banks and service providers can use mobile money as a way to shrink the gender gap for mobile services in general. READ MORE »

Hope you were able to snag a copy of Carol Coye Benson's Musings on Mobile Payments 2009! In her research on mobile payments over the last six months, Carol purposely looked only at the U.S. and Canada - but we're frequently asked about what's happening re: mobile banking and payments in other markets beyond those borders.

In a post titled "CGAP’s top ten mobile banking and microfinance technology posts for 2009", CGAP's Jim Rosenberg highlights some of the best articles they've covered during 2009 - be sure to check these articles out!

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and interested in mobile payments, the Wharton Club of Northern California is sponsoring an event this Thursday, January 7th titled "Will Mobile Money Ever Replace Cash In The Last Mile? Where, When, and How?" beginning at 6 PM at Google's campus in Mountain View. This event will address whether mobile money will be able to replace cash in the “last mile” in emerging markets with cash-based economies.

CGAP, the global microfinance center, is releasing new research and data to encourage telecom operators, financial institutions and governments to see the business potential in expanding access to financial services for poor people in developing markets. According to CGAP, "the current economic climate makes the need for widespread availability of safe alternatives to cash even more pressing." READ MORE »

The MasterCard Foundation has announced the launch of its Scholars Program by awarding grants totaling $600,000 to six leading microfinance training institutes. The foundation says its program will fund 200 scholarships for staff working in microfinance in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East to participate in management and professional development courses. READ MORE »

A new report from the global microfinance body CGAP predicts that, with the right market conditions, mobile banking could reach large numbers of poor people who are outside the formal financial system. READ MORE »

Krissah Williams reports for the Washington Post on microlending and microfinance - to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the USA - focusing primarily on the work of the Enterprise Development Group.