One of the major changes 2011 is going to bring is the start of operator billing on the web. It will provide a user-friendly way of making mobile (and web) payments without those silly credit cards that are preventing the majority of the world to participate.

Operator billing is nothing new. Premium SMS (see for instance Verizon’s FAQ) , where the user pays something extra to receive news items or ringtones, or vote in a TV show, has existed for ages. The price is automatically charged to your operator account.

The most advanced country on earth when it comes to mobile payments is Kenya. About 50% of the population handles about 20% of GDP by mobile phones these days. The social consequences are profound, and operator Safaricom became the biggest bank in East Africa in the process.

Banks and credit card companies of the world, be very afraid. The operators will come to take your business away.

http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2011/01/operator_billin.html

http://technology.cgap.org/2010/08/02/in-35-minutes-learn-how-m-pesa-reached-9-million-kenyans-in-3-years/

Slow or non-existent Internet connections have meant that the people of Uganda have not been able to harness the many advantages of the online economy. This social and economic exclusion of the poorest of the poor was further accentuated by the impossibility for a Ugandan to obtain a credit card or make PayPal payments — a simple requirement to be able to pay for goods and services online. Most merchants and payment gateway providers automatically block all credit cards from Africa, and it is not possible to get a verified PayPal account in many African nations.

…

Now, a Ugandan company called EasyPayUganda is helping people sidestep these restrictions, by allowing customers to make online payments by proxy in order to pay for services and goods. EasyPayUganda is also providing a logistics solution, forwarding customers’ shipments to Uganda, as most online merchants will not ship to Africa.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/04/25/0336207/Bridging-the-Digital-Divide-In-Uganda-By-Freight

http://www.easypayuganda.com/

• Design for social obligation
• Design for social rank
• Flexibility with sanctions
• Structured illiquidity
• Change the iconography, design with local values
• Design for convertibility
• Help calculate convertibility
• Design for relative volume, not increment
• Lucky Numbers
• Tranches and Tiers
• Design for Cyclical Events

http://www.imtfi.uci.edu/imtfi_firstannualreport_design%20principles (via)