مقاله سال ۲۰۱۷

With the advancement of science, technology has become an integral part of modern civilization. Technology has made our lives so simple that the world is now at our fingertips. The robustness and effectiveness of technology have introduced a tremendous, dynamic change to the course of socio-economic development. It has been well argued that information and communication technology (ICT) can reduce the poverty level in a country, if marginalised people are supported by appropriate access to information, education, health, as well as financial services (Ashraf and Malik, 2011; Cecchini and Scott, 2003; Thatchenkery et al., 2004). In fact, ICT has fuelled a surging wave of innovation which is diffusing across the globe to bring about social and economic uplifting (Mwachofi, 2013). According to scholars, information and communication technologies have enabled new patterns of industry dynamics by persistently creating new types of markets (Lee et al., 2015). However, the question that is still unsettled is whether the poor are ready to handle technology? Another unanswered question is how technology can ensure the well-being of the poor people. Indeed, there are stands for and against these issues. Muhammad Yunus, noble laureate and social entrepreneur, predicted decades ago that technology will be in the hands of the poor around the globe. They are capable and ready to use technology, and eventually this will alleviate poverty (Yunus, 1998). It can therefore be asserted that technology can be one of the tools for social development. Technological inclusion can also be perceived as an integral part of inclusive growth. The World Economic Forum stated in a global information technology report that in the developing countries the usage of ICT is still very low (b50%), and Bangladesh ranks 120 out of 142 countries (World Economic Forum, 2015). Yet, even against such a backdrop, the triumph of technology is unprecedented. This is what affects developing countries adversely.

Using technology as a means to uplift the condition of the poor is considered a remarkable example of social innovation. In recent times, social innovation is deemed to be new panacea for achieving socioeconomic development (Bock, 2015). According to Mulgan (2006), social innovation refers to creative activity and service that aim to meet social needs. Phills et al. (2008) have discussed social innovation as innovation which brings novel and useful solution to a social need, and creates values that accrue primarily to the society as a whole. Some of the social innovations appeared to be successful in enabling inclusive growth due to amalgamation of technological and financial inclusion (authors of this paper term it as techno-fin inclusion). Financial inclusion denotes a method that warrants easy access, availability, and usage of the formal financial systems for all members in an economy, which eventually leads to inclusive growth (Sarma and Pais, 2011).

Scholars, however, have also demonstrated financial inclusion to be a solution for the market problem, besides being a market opportunity (Schwittay, 2011). Under the techno-fin inclusion approach, financial transactions are carried out by a particular technology in order to achieve inclusive growth (for all) in the society. For instance, in Kenya, the emergence of M-Pesa was a classic example of social innovation and techno-fin inclusion, through which the societal need for inclusive growth was served. M-Pesa is considered as one of the successful projects (Dunn, 2015) to bring out the fact that mobile phone technology adoption is a worthy initiative for economic and social change of the marginalized strata. According to scholars, the rapid growth of M-Pesa in Kenya was fuelled due to the poor alternatives for money transfers (Mas and Morawczynski, 2009). Similar social innovations that use technology have transformed the economic and social conditions of the marginalized people in several developing countries. Bangladesh is one such nation. As a true representation of social innovation and techno-fin inclusion, the first mobile money service deployment in the country, bKash, a private venture was launched in Bangladesh in 2011. M-Pesa and bKash are both considered as market disruptions, and disruptive social innovations, in the financial services sector. However, compared to M-Pesa, bKash gained customers much quicker due to its ease of use, vast availability, broad acceptance, diverse group of investors, supportive regulatory environment, and strong brand presence (Davidson, 2015). In addition, it has been put forward that bKash is the cheapest phone-to-phone money transfer option, and the cheapest cash-out option among all the money transfer providers in the world (Amin, 2014). That enabled bKash to hold 95% of the mobile money services business in Bangladesh, whereas in Kenya, 55% is captured by MPesa (Realini and Mehta, 2015). Further, according to Chen and Rasmussen (2014) from Consultative Group to Assist the Poor that is housed in the World Bank, bKash was the fastest-growing mobile money service in the world during the year 2013. It has been designed to work as a mobile money transaction tool for the entire population, aiming for inclusive growth. The users can open an account linked to a mobile phone number. Account owners can deposit or withdraw at appointed bKash agents, using any kind of handset. These bKash agents are basically the micro-entrepreneurs located in different parts of Bangladesh. In addition, it has been found that most transactions are made by people sending money to family members. They include migrant labours, garment factory workers, and rickshaw pullers sending money home. Also benefitting from bKash are students receiving money for living expenses (Chen and Rasmussen, 2014). Therefore, scholars have asserted that mobile money services ensure and add value to the well-being of people.