For more than half a century, the U.S. was the center of global innovation for financial technology, inventing credit cards, ATMs, and online banking. Now, however, it’s falling behind, as China has become a leader of mobile payments, and now African countries — namely Kenya — are making huge strides with familiar technologies such as mobile phones and SMS-style messaging, and rapidly expanding the circle of financial inclusion. Companies can learn three important lessons from this most recent wave of innovation: bundling services (think: banking and cellular as one offering) is essential to success; finance is about trust, but trusted companies can lend their credibility to newcomers with promising offerings; and technology that enables mass adoption or expansion is often old, not cutting edge.
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