Resource Type: White Paper
Authors: Sherri Haas, Marilyn Heymann, Pamela Riley, and Abeba Taddese
Published: 11/1/2013

Resource Description:

Mobile money provides unique opportunities in the health sector. It can be integrated into existing activities—replacing cash flows—to improve efficiency, accountability, and transparency in financial transactions. It also opens up potential to improve scalability of subsidy and incentive schemes and to expand access to financial services such as credit and savings.

This paper reviews current use cases and potential applications of mobile money in health, including (a) bulk payments for salaries and per diems, (b) conditional cash transfer and pay-for-performance schemes, (c) collection of health insurance premiums, and (d) management of voucher schemes, with the overall objective of bringing attention to the benefits and challenges of using mobile money in the health sector.