Nokia Money to provide financial services to the unbanked

Nokia posted a press release this morning for an upcoming mobile service that I think could have a significant impact on the world. Nokia Money is a new financial service that will allow the millions of people who have a Nokia device and no bank to conduct basic financial transactions. It may not have much of an impact in the US or other developed countries, but in areas where banking is not as vital it could be huge. According to Nokia's press release there are more than 4 billion mobile phone users and only 1.6 billion bank account around the world today.

Nokia Money will allow users to pay others, pay merchants, pay for their utility bills, or recharge their SIM all from their mobile phone. You can access your account 24 hours a day and are not restricted by banking hours. There will be Nokia Money agents so you can deposit money in or withdraw cash from your accounts. Nokia Money will be shown next week at Nokia World and will start rolling out in early 2010. The service won't be restricted to just Nokia phones either, so any phone someone has should be capable of being used with Nokia Money.