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Title: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: pawel7777 on February 18, 2015, 11:17:26 PM Already posted this in Press board, but think it's worth the main board.
You don't often see CNN saying positive things about Bitcoin, but here it is: Breaking the bank: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/17/business/bitcoin-africa-unbanked/ Quote CNN Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and also focuses on the continent's key industries and corporations. (CNN)Money makes the world go round, they say, but what if notes and coins were replaced with online code? Bitcoin -- the world's much talked about cryptocurrency -- is just that. It can't be printed, it can't be directly controlled by governments or central banks, but it can be sent around the world instantly at a low cost. And in sub-Saharan Africa, where 75% of the population don't have a bank account, experts say the currency could help millions of people pay bills and get to grips with their finances. Transferring cash via a bank or a Money Transfer Operator (MTOs) like Western Union or MoneyGram can be costly. According to the Overseas Development Institute, the average charge to transfer $200 to Africa using traditional money transfer services is 12%. If you send $200, you pay $24. The ODI added up all the transfers that happen in a year, and found remittance fees cost the African continent $1.8 billion a year. What if that money could be spent on things, rather than fees? As Bitcoin is a virtual peer-to-peer currency -- designed to operate on the border-less internet -- the costs of transferring money can be radically cheaper than traditional methods, and the process is much quicker. "Bitcoin can greatly alter the remittances industry and beyond," says Michael Kimani, who heads the African Digital Currency Association, a Kenya-based group launched last May to promote digital currency technologies. "From seven days [for a transaction to clear] using banks & PayPal, down to 20 minutes speaks volumes." Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: cellard on February 18, 2015, 11:48:35 PM Finally, positive press of BTC after all this exchange shit, good to see.
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Q7 on February 19, 2015, 12:58:55 AM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this.
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: AgentofCoin on February 19, 2015, 03:13:36 AM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this. Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early? Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: bryant.coleman on February 19, 2015, 06:42:15 AM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this. I doubt that. Check their coverage of the SR and SR 2.0 scandals. IMO, Russia Today is much more pro-Bitcoin, when compared to CNN or BBC. http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2013/10/24/bitcoin/?iid=EL http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/25/news/economy/bitcoins-silk-road/ Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Guido on February 20, 2015, 01:28:56 AM remittance market will be decimated by crypto in time
it deserves this, had it too good for too long western union shareholders will be bagholders Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: bryant.coleman on February 20, 2015, 06:53:42 AM remittance market will be decimated by crypto in time Western Onion became too greedy. They charge as much as 15% to transfer money to Africa. I don't know whether crypto will replace them, but I am sure that this sick corporation is going to die off very soon. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: pitham1 on February 20, 2015, 03:41:27 PM Money transmitters will soon start lobbying to put regulations in place for these remittances.
They have too much at stake to give up easily. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: ChuckBuck on February 20, 2015, 03:47:46 PM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this. Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early? Watched it last night! It was pretty awesome to say the least. ;D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLxhI81Flvk Watched it last night on CNN and again on Youtube...overall positive views and tone, and well done by Morgan Spurlock. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: ChuckBuck on February 20, 2015, 03:57:48 PM How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers? They might not have iPhones, Nexus, HTC's, or Galaxies out in Africa, but they do have cheap basic mobile phones that have limited service for texting even in the poorest of Nations. They're already doing this with M Pesa since 2007 http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/about/about-us/money_transfer.html and the natural evolution would be to BitPesa https://www.bitpesa.co/ With smartphones getting cheaper and cheaper, this could be the thing that really makes Bitcoin the first global currency. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: RodeoX on February 20, 2015, 04:04:43 PM How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers? Smartphones are common in the developing world. In many places they skipped the land line phase and went straight to cell towers. Bitcoin is a natural in Africa. Many Africans already use cell phone minutes as a currency. "Want to buy that chicken? Text me 2 hours of talk time." Weird but true. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: pawel7777 on February 20, 2015, 08:17:11 PM How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers? Let me reply with Kprawn's post from the same topic in press board: I have done some contract work in Africa, and people might be amazed how innovative some of these people are. Do not for one moment think that these people are illiterate idiots sitting around a fire in front of their huts... you will be VERY wrong. Yes, they do not have cable internet and fiber optic connections to every house, but what they lack in infrastructure, they make up with innovative alternatives. They have also dealt with digital currencies in the form of M-pesa running on cellphones... so you would feel like a idiot abroad, if they ask you cash or M-pesa and you know nothing about it. The only difference between the UK / USA and Africa is the accessability of modern infrastructure and good education. The will to learn is there, but the investment capital to fund infrastructure lack behind. The environment is also difficult, with many traditions and cultural differences, but in the end, we are all human. {albeit Robert Mugabe -- He might be a alien} ;) The introduction to Bitcoin might just be easier, than most people think, with their background with M-pesa. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: countryfree on February 20, 2015, 11:44:22 PM It's a huge opportunity for sure, but Africa still needs exchanges where someone can convert his/her BTC into cash or send it to a Mpesa account.
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: yayayo on February 21, 2015, 12:17:16 AM It's a huge opportunity for sure, but Africa still needs exchanges where someone can convert his/her BTC into cash or send it to a Mpesa account. Yes there's a lot of opportunity. But I'm skeptical if there's real progress. I've been reading similar news since almost 2 years, yet not much is happening. I don't know if conversion is really the most needed service. Bitcoin could easily function as a full currency in Africa, since a lot of people are accustomed to use foreign currencies anyway, because their nation's currency is subject to rampant inflation. So I think what's needed most are simple 2G-phone compatible Bitcoin services. ya.ya.yo! Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Bizmark13 on February 21, 2015, 08:17:16 AM How can africa adopt bitcoins if they are porn and cant afford smartphones and good computers? It's only a matter of time before even the poorest of nations have widespread access to smartphones and good computers. Moore's law is a wonderful thing. In 2010, it was pretty damn near impossible to find a smartphone for under $200 here. In fact, this was the phone I bought in 2010: http://s27.postimg.org/rz2b5d6gz/phone1.jpg I was able to buy it for $200 and it was selling for $250 elsewhere. It had a tiny resistive touch screen, 240x360 resolution, no Android, no wifi, and wasn't even a smartphone despite its looks: Despite this, it was one of the cheapest phones with a touch screen at the time. Today, that same $200-250 will get you this magnificent beauty: http://s22.postimg.org/bmhilcbw1/phone2.jpg That's a 5" HD screen with quad cores, 8 MP rear camera + 2 MP front camera, and running the latest version of Android. Even the $80-100 phones are pretty good (in fact, this is my current smartphone): http://s14.postimg.org/60uve074x/phone3.jpg And here's what $30-50 will get you (still better than my 5 year old $200 phone): http://s23.postimg.org/gli5tmsbf/alcatel.jpg The latest Raspberry Pi is 6 times more powerful than its predecessor, features 1 GB of RAM and a quad core processor, will run the latest Windows 10, and only costs $35. I've seen tablets with HD screens and dual core processors go for under $80. As I said, it's only a matter of time. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Madness on February 21, 2015, 08:19:49 AM Nice , Finally the media isn't trying to screw Bitcoin's Reputation by the Silk Road bullshits and whatever illegal you can do with Bitcoin .
Btw when they say Africa , any specified countries ? I live in North Africa (Algeria) but there is no such informations about this . ~ Madness Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Brewins on February 21, 2015, 10:38:56 AM Nice , Finally the media isn't trying to screw Bitcoin's Reputation by the Silk Road bullshits and whatever illegal you can do with Bitcoin . Btw when they say Africa , any specified countries ? I live in North Africa (Algeria) but there is no such informations about this . ~ Madness Article says Sub Saharan Africa. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: deepestfear on February 21, 2015, 12:33:39 PM Awesome piece, can't wait to watch how it all plays out
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Daniel91 on February 21, 2015, 12:41:34 PM It's about the time finally that media accept reality, that bitcoin is superior to any other ways to send funds abroad.
I guess, they had to accept obvious fact that for the people in Africa, without bank accounts, bitcoin is really God's blessing. Hope to see more positive reports soon :) Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: moni3z on February 21, 2015, 07:30:27 PM The big remittance corps have a monopoly on African transfers
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/aug/18/global-remittance-industry-choking-billions-developing-world Case in point, Somali competition to WU/MG was just killed 2 days ago by numerous banks threatening the survival of millions relying on xfers to areas without WU coverage http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/us-somalia-money-remittances-idUSKBN0LN0GN20150219 Barclays and Westpac have also dumped all competitors to WU/MG to xfers to Somalia. Of course this means business opportunity for somebody living in a country without these bans and is a Dahabshiil agent. Accept bitcoin payment from diaspora Somalis in US/UK/Aus and 3rd party xfer the money to Somalia via Dahabshiil. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: neurotypical on February 22, 2015, 01:34:23 AM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this. Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early? Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: croato on February 22, 2015, 03:56:18 AM After ton of bad news it is great to hear something good.
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Brewins on February 22, 2015, 06:20:21 AM Problem is the internet connection in Africa is not the most reliable in the world.
But of course a non reliable way of transfer still is better than no way of transfer Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: tss on February 22, 2015, 07:30:33 AM yes. btc can help africa's people get a grip on money. but i doubt their governments will be very happy about this. they chop things off with machetes over there.
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Quartx on February 22, 2015, 07:34:21 AM That moment when they actively use bitcoin and bitcoin price fall to rock bottom overnight would be a disaster
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Harry Hood on February 22, 2015, 08:08:19 AM Sure it's positive news, but is it really that big of a deal?
How much are sub-saharan Africans spending in bank fees (or would be spending if they had the accounts)? Is it really impacting their ability to pay their bills? Access to the internet also costs money, does this not equal the cost of bank fees? I'm not trying to be an ass here, these aren't rhetorical questions, if anyone can educate me...don't hesitate! Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: mercistheman on February 22, 2015, 08:38:15 AM Go Africa... it cha birthday! :D
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: mercistheman on February 22, 2015, 08:40:15 AM That moment when they actively use bitcoin and bitcoin price fall to rock bottom overnight would be a disaster Wild ass guess... but maybe they'll be buying coins too ;)Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: lyth0s on February 22, 2015, 08:47:11 AM Problem is the internet connection in Africa is not the most reliable in the world. But of course a non reliable way of transfer still is better than no way of transfer Funny that you say that. I know of a few doc's that went down to Africa with their cellphones and had amazing service while out in very small villages and were able to check-in with their families at home everyday. They couldn't stop raving about how "the middle of Africa has wireless coverage figured out better than the US". Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: mercistheman on February 22, 2015, 08:53:13 AM They don't need internet connection or smart phones... as mentioned towers are not a problem
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: AtheistAKASaneBrain on February 22, 2015, 03:54:55 PM They don't need internet connection or smart phones... as mentioned towers are not a problem How are they supossed to do anything without internet connection? I dont get it.Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: lyth0s on February 22, 2015, 10:29:24 PM They don't need internet connection or smart phones... as mentioned towers are not a problem How are they supossed to do anything without internet connection? I dont get it.Look up "Bitcoin via SMS". If you have questions, read about it... Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: ChuckBuck on February 23, 2015, 04:47:21 PM They don't need internet connection or smart phones... as mentioned towers are not a problem How are they supossed to do anything without internet connection? I dont get it.Look up "Bitcoin via SMS". If you have questions, read about it... Yup, transmitting over existing networks isn't a problem. They already have towers in place from using M Pesa: https://uwana.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/m-pesa1.jpg http://www.ventures-africa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/M-Pesa.jpg http://media.digitalcommunities.com/images/shutterstock_cell_towers.jpg Transitioning to Bitcoin services similar to Bitpesa wouldn't be an issue. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: pawel7777 on February 23, 2015, 05:09:13 PM On related subject, BitPesa (Nairobi based remittance business) just raised $1.1m to expand their operations. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/02/09/bitbeat-kenyas-bitpesa-raises-1-1-million-expands-operations/ Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: RodeoX on February 23, 2015, 06:22:39 PM On related subject, BitPesa (Nairobi based remittance business) just raised $1.1m to expand their operations. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/02/09/bitbeat-kenyas-bitpesa-raises-1-1-million-expands-operations/ Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: pitham1 on February 24, 2015, 12:32:43 AM On related subject, BitPesa (Nairobi based remittance business) just raised $1.1m to expand their operations. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/02/09/bitbeat-kenyas-bitpesa-raises-1-1-million-expands-operations/ It has just been 1 year since they started. They have managed to get the confidence of investors so quickly. :) Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: nikona on February 24, 2015, 12:46:42 PM It's about the time finally that media accept reality, that bitcoin is superior to any other ways to send funds abroad. I guess, they had to accept obvious fact that for the people in Africa, without bank accounts, bitcoin is really God's blessing. Hope to see more positive reports soon :) Yes mate..BTC has been a real blessing.. Cant wait for more news like this.. :) Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: yayayo on April 20, 2015, 01:35:12 PM Finally the killer app is here: http://www.bitsim.co/
This "smart SIM extension" has great potential, because it uses simple SMS technology on non-feature phones. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in the Bitcoin community, 3G infrastructure is not widely available in most African countries (or is extremely costly to connect with) and even the cheapest feature phones are still too expensive compared to the average income in most of Africa. Hopefully this will be available soon. ya.ya.yo! Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Nick Markus on April 20, 2015, 01:43:37 PM Amazing news. Who could have predicted such development for Africa. :)
Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: jjacob on April 20, 2015, 05:12:06 PM Finally the killer app is here: http://www.bitsim.co/ This "smart SIM extension" has great potential, because it uses simple SMS technology on non-feature phones. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in the Bitcoin community, 3G infrastructure is not widely available in most African countries (or is extremely costly to connect with) and even the cheapest feature phones are still too expensive compared to the average income in most of Africa. Hopefully this will be available soon. ya.ya.yo! Sending bitcoins through sms has been possible for sometime now, right? How is this different? Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Bit_Happy on April 20, 2015, 05:17:11 PM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this. Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early? Morgan Spurlock did one show on BTC that people were talking about, is there another on coming up? Also, glad to see CNN is reporting about Bitcoin in Africa. :) Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Nick Markus on April 22, 2015, 06:45:45 AM Cnn seems to be bitcoin friendly. The documentary done by Morgan Spurlock about living only on bitcoin was great and now we have this. Was great? Past-tense? Have you seen it early? Morgan Spurlock did one show on BTC that people were talking about, is there another on coming up? Also, glad to see CNN is reporting about Bitcoin in Africa. :) You know what they say. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: yayayo on April 22, 2015, 12:26:32 PM Finally the killer app is here: http://www.bitsim.co/ This "smart SIM extension" has great potential, because it uses simple SMS technology on non-feature phones. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in the Bitcoin community, 3G infrastructure is not widely available in most African countries (or is extremely costly to connect with) and even the cheapest feature phones are still too expensive compared to the average income in most of Africa. Hopefully this will be available soon. ya.ya.yo! Sending bitcoins through sms has been possible for sometime now, right? How is this different? If you're referring to Coinapult SMS service: It's a centralized service. Their service numbers are from UK/Canada - so SMS from other countries will be expensive. (Hidden) fees (conversion rates). BitSim is a hardware solution. It is decentralized and works worldwide with local SMS pricing. There`s no intermediary central authority involved. No fees besides hardware costs (which will be very low). ya.ya.yo! Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Nick Markus on April 23, 2015, 10:25:21 AM Finally the killer app is here: http://www.bitsim.co/ This "smart SIM extension" has great potential, because it uses simple SMS technology on non-feature phones. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in the Bitcoin community, 3G infrastructure is not widely available in most African countries (or is extremely costly to connect with) and even the cheapest feature phones are still too expensive compared to the average income in most of Africa. Hopefully this will be available soon. ya.ya.yo! Sending bitcoins through sms has been possible for sometime now, right? How is this different? If you're referring to Coinapult SMS service: It's a centralized service. Their service numbers are from UK/Canada - so SMS from other countries will be expensive. (Hidden) fees (conversion rates). BitSim is a hardware solution. It is decentralized and works worldwide with local SMS pricing. There`s no intermediary central authority involved. No fees besides hardware costs (which will be very low). ya.ya.yo! Never heard of BitSim. Sounds amazing to have normal pricing for worldwide communication. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Snorek on April 23, 2015, 11:08:05 AM Finally the killer app is here: http://www.bitsim.co/ This "smart SIM extension" has great potential, because it uses simple SMS technology on non-feature phones. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in the Bitcoin community, 3G infrastructure is not widely available in most African countries (or is extremely costly to connect with) and even the cheapest feature phones are still too expensive compared to the average income in most of Africa. Hopefully this will be available soon. ya.ya.yo! Sending bitcoins through sms has been possible for sometime now, right? How is this different? If you're referring to Coinapult SMS service: It's a centralized service. Their service numbers are from UK/Canada - so SMS from other countries will be expensive. (Hidden) fees (conversion rates). BitSim is a hardware solution. It is decentralized and works worldwide with local SMS pricing. There`s no intermediary central authority involved. No fees besides hardware costs (which will be very low). ya.ya.yo! Never heard of BitSim. Sounds amazing to have normal pricing for worldwide communication. Which is not always good idea imo. Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: yayayo on April 23, 2015, 01:46:31 PM Bitsim is innovation for sure, but services like that are not decentralized. And you probably will let them control your private key as part of their system and let store your information/credentials in Cloud based Services. Which is not always good idea imo. From what I understood you are not forced to use their services and will be in control of your keys. So you could control your own wallet with it. But maybe I misunderstood. Remember that this is about micropayments. It's pretty clear that it's not a good idea to store all your funds on the BitSim system. ya.ya.yo! Title: Re: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions Post by: Nick Markus on April 24, 2015, 05:49:44 AM Finally the killer app is here: http://www.bitsim.co/ This "smart SIM extension" has great potential, because it uses simple SMS technology on non-feature phones. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in the Bitcoin community, 3G infrastructure is not widely available in most African countries (or is extremely costly to connect with) and even the cheapest feature phones are still too expensive compared to the average income in most of Africa. Hopefully this will be available soon. ya.ya.yo! Sending bitcoins through sms has been possible for sometime now, right? How is this different? If you're referring to Coinapult SMS service: It's a centralized service. Their service numbers are from UK/Canada - so SMS from other countries will be expensive. (Hidden) fees (conversion rates). BitSim is a hardware solution. It is decentralized and works worldwide with local SMS pricing. There`s no intermediary central authority involved. No fees besides hardware costs (which will be very low). ya.ya.yo! Never heard of BitSim. Sounds amazing to have normal pricing for worldwide communication. Which is not always good idea imo. The private key being in their control does not sound very secure. |
