Mobile Banking on the Increase in Developing Countries

Mobile banking is becoming more and more popular in countries of the Third World. While
in developed countries almost all people have bank accounts, only a small part of the
population in underdeveloped countries has access to banks.

In mobile banking, a person who wants to send

money does so by sending the amount via text
to the receiver’s phone number. The person
who receives the money goes to an authorized
local shop and withdraws the cash.

There are many examples of mobile banking in

the Third World. Hospitals in Tanzania send
money to women so that they can pay for the
bus fare to the hospital. In Afghanistan, the
government pays its policemen by mobile
phone. Coffee plantation owners in East Africa
send workers their money via text.

Mobile banking has become popular where there are few banks but where most of the
people have a mobile phone. The potential market is especially large in South America
where only 35% of the people have bank accounts but 90% have mobile phones.

Many mobile phone companies are taking over banking services in underdeveloped
countries. In the last two years, almost one million people in six African countries have
signed up with European mobile operator Orange. In Kenya and Tanzania, British operator
Vodaphone has 20 million customers who send money to other people in the country and
abroad.

In Pakistan, Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor has been offering mobile banking
since 2008. People can withdraw money at almost 11,000 shops throughout the country.
Pakistan itself has only a little over 8,000 banks. Money transfers are limited to $120, with
Telenor taking 5% of the amount.

The number of mobile banking customers is expected to rise in Third World countries from
currently 60 million to almost a billion in 2015. Over 80% of these costumes live in Latin
America, Africa, and Asia.

In the developed world mobile banking has not become a serious option because most
customers have bank accounts and transfer their money via Internet banking. As more and
more Americans and Europeans buy smartphones mobile banking will probably increase.

Vocabularies

 access = the right or possibility  to use something

  amount = sum
 an authorized = official, allowed
 bank account = an agreement where a  customer can pay in and take out money at a bank
 billion = a thousand million
 bus fare = the money that you have to pay to ride a bus
 cash = money
 currently = right now
 customer = person who buys something or uses a company’s services
 developed countries = rich countries in Europe and North America, as well as Japan and
Australia
 especially = very
 expect = will probably
 government = the people who rule a country
 increase = go up
 limited = here: not more than
 local = in the area
 mobile banking = to make money transfers through your mobile phone
 offer = here: sell to people
 operator = company
 option = possibility, offer
 owner = a person who possesses or has something
 popular = liked by many people
 potential = possible
 receive = get
 receiver = a person who gets the money
 rise = go up
 serious = important, good
 service = help that a company gives you
 sign up = to start being a customer and use the services
 smartphone = mobile phone that has its own operating system and works like a small
computer
 throughout = in all of
 transfer = send
 an underdeveloped country = poor country in Asia, Latin America, and Africa
 via = through, by way of
 while = although
 withdraw = get, take out

Ford To Invest $11 Billion in Electric Cars

The Ford Motor Company has revealed plans to invest over $11 billion dollars in the
development and production of electric cars by 2022. The announcement was made
public at the Detroit Motor Show.
The American carmaker plans to produce 16 fully battery-driven vehicles and 24
hybrid cars by 2022. At the moment the Focus is the only Ford car that can be driven by
batteries alone.

Apart from producing electric-driven cars for the North American market, Ford also
aims at increasing sales to China, the largest growing car market in the world. In
addition, it wants to become the world’s leader in fuel-efficient trucks. The car producer
also plans to bring a battery-driven SUV on the market by 2020.

Instead of creating completely new electric vehicles from scratch, Ford wants to
electrify cars that are already popular because people will know what they get and buy
more easily.

Automobile manufacturers around the world are under pressure to develop electric
cars because many large countries, including China, India, France and the U.K. have said
they would phase out vehicles powered by internal combustion engines within the next
two decades. They also face fierce competition from companies like Tesla, a car-maker
that specialises in innovative technologies.

As battery costs are going down rapidly, carmakers may find it easier to produce
electric cars with higher mileage and at cheaper prices.

Vocabularies

 aim = target , plan

 announcement = official statement
 apart from = other than
 battery-driven = run by a battery
 billion = a thousand million
 competition = trying to be more successful than other companies
 decade = ten years
 development = working on a new product
 electrify = make electric
 fierce = here: strong
 from scratch = to start something from the beginning without using anything
that has existed before
 fuel-efficient = car that burns fuel in a more effective way than usual; it does not
need as much fuel as others do
 fully = completely
 higher mileage = here: to make an electric car that can travel more miles or
kilometres before you have to recharge it
 hybrid car = a car that has both a petrol or diesel engine and an electric motor
 in addition = also
 an innovative = new way of doing something; often better than existing
methods
 instead of = in something’s place
 internal combustion engine = engine that produces power by burning petrol or
diesel; it is used in most cars
 invest = spend money on …
 make public = to say something for everyone to hear
 manufacturer = producer
 phase out = to slowly stop using or producing something
 popular = well-known and liked by many people
 production = here: making cars
 rapidly = quickly
 reveal = announce too many people
 sales = selling cars
 SUV = sport-utility vehicle = car that is bigger and is made for travelling over
rough ground; mostly with a 4-wheel drive
 under pressure = to make someone do something  by using arguments and
threats
 vehicle = a machine with a motor that is used to take people or things from one
place to another