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Pilot of a mobile money school fee payment system in rural Benin

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  • Claire L Adida
  • Adam Chabi Bouko
  • Alex Verink
  • Ganz Chockalingam
  • Jennifer Burney

Abstract

We present a rationale for, and results from, the pilot of a direct individual-to-institution remittance system in the context of school fee payment in rural Benin. Data confirm that school fees act as an impediment to educational attainment, and in very rural poor settings such as northern Benin, students often depend on extended family and kinship networks to pay fees. But existing remittance options are costly, in terms of fees, time, and risk. We pilot a new technology bundle in a single public high school in northeastern Benin, and evaluate its effectiveness. Here we describe the technical and institutional implementation of the project, as well as our findings from the first year of operation. We discuss takeaways and implications for scale-up.

Suggested Citation

  • Claire L Adida & Adam Chabi Bouko & Alex Verink & Ganz Chockalingam & Jennifer Burney, 2018. "Pilot of a mobile money school fee payment system in rural Benin," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(6), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0198240
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198240
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jenny Aker & David A Carroll, 2022. "The State of Digital Financial Services in Francophone West Africa," Working Papers hal-03642499, HAL.
    2. Jenny Aker & Joel Cariolle, 2022. "The Use of Digital for Public Service Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa," Post-Print hal-03003899, HAL.
    3. Metzger, Martina & Riedler, Tim & Pédussel Wu, Jennifer, 2019. "Migrant remittances: Alternative money transfer channels," IPE Working Papers 127/2019, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).

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