The Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) presents:

Annual Conference for Funded Researchers

December 5-6, 2012
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
UCI Student Center, Doheny Beach Conference Room

This conference brings together the institute's fourth-year award recipients who will present their preliminary findings. As more and more philanthropic, industry and development actors ask whether mobile technology can help provide access to needed financial services like savings and money transfer, these projects look to the experience on the ground of existing, traditional money systems and financial practices, as well as the potential and real impact of new technology in providing access to finance for the world's poor.

December 5, 2012

8:15-8:30 a.m.
Registration

8:30-9:00 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions by Director Bill Maurer

9:00-10:30 a.m.
Session 1: Money, Mobility, and Practices of the Self
Discussant: Nina Bandelj, UC Irvine

• "Mobile Kin and Mobile Money: The Anthropology of International Remittances in Kenya," (Kenya) by Sibel Kusimba
• "Generating, Storing and Exchanging Value: Comparing Financial Practices in Mexican and Indian Rural Communities," (Mexico and India) by Magdalena Villareal & Isabelle Guerin
• "Mobiles, Migrants and Money: A Study of Mobility at the Haitian-Dominican Republic Border," (Haiti & Dominican Republic) by Heather Horst & Erin Taylor

10:30-11:00 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Session 2: Shifting Financial and Technological Literacies
Discussant: Scott Mainwaring, Intel

• "Material Cultures of Financial Literacy among Rural and Urban Poor in Orissa, India," by Katherine Martineau, Pradeep Baisakh, & Nishita Trisal
• "The Impact of Pure Mobile Microfinancing on the Poor," (Nairobi, Kenya) by Tonny Omwansa & Timothy Mwololo
• "Mobile Money Information System Architecture for Open Air Market," (Ethiopia) by Mesfin Woldmariam

12:30-2:00 p.m.
Lunch (provided)

2:00-3:30 p.m.
Session 3: Mobile Money's Agency in Everyday Behavior & Practices
Discussant: Julia Elyachar, UC Irvine

• "Evolving Participatory Relationships for Uplifting Urban Poor Rickshaw Pullers: Next Step Forward," (India) Mani Nandhi & Deepti Kc
• "Making Sense of Mobile Money in Urban Ghana: Personal, Business, Social and Financial Inclusion Prospects," (Ghana) by Vivian Dzokoto & Elizabeth Appiah
• "Delivering Cash Grants to Indigenous Peoples Through ATM and GCASH Remit: Boon or Bane? The Case of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Conditional Cash Transfer Program in the Philippines," by Anatoly Gusto & Emily Roque

3:30-4:00 p.m.
Break

4:00-5:30 p.m.
Session 4: Architectures of Mobile Money: Constructing, Combining and Converting Platforms
Discussant: Gustav Peebles, The New School of Social Research

• "A Study in Tracking the Shift from Savings to Remittance on the Mobile Backbone: Findings from EKO, India," by Ishita Ghosh & Kartikeya Bajpai
• "A Work Practice Approach to Understanding Actors in Agricultural Markets: Revisiting the Fishermen of Kerala, India," by Jenna Burrell, Janaki Srinivasan & Richa Kumar
• "'E-SUSU' Operation: Can Mobile Money Revolutionize an Ancient Saving System among Indigenous West Africans," (Ghana) by Eric Osei-Assibey
  

5:30-7:00 p.m.
Cocktail Reception with Dinner (provided)

December 6, 2012

9:00-10:30 a.m.
Session 5: Inclusion and Exclusion in Mobile Money Systems
Discussant: Jake Kendall, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• "The Use of Mobile Money Services and Platforms Among the Visually Impaired in Kenya: Any Impact on Poverty Reduction?" by Ndunge Kiiti & Jane Mutinda
• "A Study on Association of Social Capital with Microfinance and Local Saving Programs Among the Muslim Poor in Andhra Pradesh, India," by Rosina Nasir
  
• "Gender Empowerment and Access to Financial Services in Machakos County, Eastern Kenya," by Simiyu Wandibba & Stevie Nangendo

10:30-11:00 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Session 6: Designing New MM Models for Financial Inclusion
Discussant: Alladi Venkatesh, UC Irvine

• "Banking the Poor through Mobile Telephony: Understanding the Challenges for Expanding Mobile-Based Financial Services in Latin America," by Roxana Barrantes & Judith Mariscal
• "Impact Research of Farmers' Access to ICT-based Decision Software on Household Savings Generation and Credit Loan Payments," (Philippines) by Allerine Isles & Lynn Marjorie Camson
• "Mobile Payment Adoption in Brazil: Investigation of a Pilot Implementation," by Eduardo Diniz, Joao Porto de Albuquerque, and Adrian Kemmer Cernev

12:30-2:00 p.m.
Lunch (provided)

2:00-3:30 p.m.
Session 7: Institutional Cultures and Regulatory Framings: Limit Cases in MM Adoption and Uptake
Discussant: Jonathan Donner, Microsoft Research

• "Resistance to e-Money in Poor Remittances Receivers' Families, Case in Lombok Island, Indonesia," by Catur Sugiyanto, Tiar Shantiuli & Zuhrohtun Zuhrohtun
• "Betting on Chance in Colombia: How Game Operator Networks Succeed in Providing Financial Services to the Poor While Other Networks Stay Behind," by Ana Echeverry, Anny Chou & Coppelia Herran
• "Composing Development? Biometrics, Smart Cards and Financial Inclusion in South Africa's Social Protection Initiative," (South Africa) by Kevin Donovan

3:30-4:00 p.m.
Break

4:00-5:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks

Registration is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Please register online at http://www.imtfi.uci.edu/imtfi_annual_conference_2012.

Parking is available in the Student Center Parking Structure for $10 per day. Lunch and dinner will be provided on day one; lunch will be provided on day two.

Can't make it to the conference in person? Visit http://www.imtfi.uci.edu/imtfi_annual_conference_2012 for live coverage during conference hours.

Learn more about IMTFI online.