PlaNet Finance to Enhance the Poor's Access to Financial Services Through a Mobile Banking Project in Africa and the Middle East, in Partnership with Orange

PARIS -- PlaNet Finance received a $1.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a Mobile Banking Project. The Mobile Banking Project, which is co-developed with Orange, will help PlaNet Finance use its existing mobile phone platform and infrastructure to provide microfinance clients with enhanced access to banking services.

Today, 1 billion people have a bank account, but 3 billion have a mobile phone. Mobile banking has the potential to bring financial services to the most rural and remote populations, providing poor people with limited access to these services the opportunity to save money, pay bills and apply for microloans.

To read the full press release, visit the PlaNet Finance web site.

###
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

PRESS RELEASES

Feb 01, 2012Gates Foundation Invites Public to Explore New Visitor Center Jan 30, 2012Private and Public Partners Unite to Combat 10 Neglected Tropical Diseases by 2020 Jan 26, 2012Foundation Commits $750 Million to Global Fund