Warren Buffet and Bill Gates in Beijing

What’s in common between Warren Buffet and Bill Gates? First, they are both super rich; second, they have donated, and will continue to donate and are encouraging other billionaires to donate their fortune. Do the Chinese billionaires welcome the tycoon duo? Well, this is quite personal. Their recent effort in Philanthropy has drawn the world’s attention. Do you know when did the two rich men

The challenges of a young industry

According to most accounts, the mobile financial services industry will grow to be huge. It is likely that it would have a major impact on social trends and macro economies in most countries (but specifically in emerging countries where the biggest global growth will occur and where the majority of people live). In human terms we are potentially looking at a giant with a lot of capacity.

However, the industry is still only a toddler (at best). As is the case with humans, the industry will still have to go through many phases, face many problems and (hopefully) be exposed to the right influences. It is critical years - right now - as many of the things that will be pivotal later will get established now.

In looking at the industry at this stage of the development, I have many worries about how it is developing and what some of the characteristics are that are starting to evolve in this young toddler. I believe it is important to recognise the bad behaviour and eradicate it now in order to ensure that the industry can grow into its full potential and deliver on its promise.

Some of the worrying traits that I see emerging are the following:

This is an industry without a clear identity. At best, the industry can be described as schizophrenic. We have different views of what the industry stand for and what the objectives are. We lack a crisp message. It is often my experience that external people only "get it" after a long description and explanation. It would be much better if we had a much more clear identity.

The industry is not honest with itself and with others. Wild claims and misleading statements are often made. It seems as if it is more important to project information so as to benefit specific individuals rather than considering the well-being of the industry. I am not naive in thinking that this should not be happening, but when it turns into standard practice and with no cross checks and balances, I say we have a problem.

Are these signs of an industry in distress or should we just bear with the growing pains of a young industry?

Online Trading

We can see that online stock trading has become a good professional for many people. People can do online stock trading with their other jobs too. In fact many people like stock trading along with their main profession. This is a good income opportunity place but there are many people who did not get success in this stock trading field. The main reason of unsuccessful in stock trading is lack of information about the subject of stock trading. If you want to enter in the profession of stock trading then you should take all the information about the stock trading.

There are many points which you should know about the online trading and for that you should connect with Internet. As we know that Internet is the information giant machine from where we can take lot of information about the online trading. You can get many information about some companies with the help of stock trading newsletter too.

Always keep in your mind that you should practical towards getting information from Internet. Its true that we can get many information from the Internet but not all information are accurate and authentic. So, you should verify some of the major facts related to stock trading because there are many online trading site appear to be fraudulent.

Online tutorial is the good place to learn about the online trading and you can also get many basic idea and complete guidance about the stock marketing. Online tutorials give you a details and deep analysis on trading of various stocks. This kind of education helps you about the investments and shares.

Always follow the trends and main important thing is that you must know about the past and current trends that is going on in investment things. Patient is very important for this process.

You can also learn more about the stock trading by visiting the site stock market chat room.

What can go wrong with mobile banking deployments

In some team-sports, an average team can do well if they have a star-player in the team. In these instances one could say that the team is as good as the best player. In other sports, a team could easily loose if one of the players are not up to scratch. This is a situation where the team is as good as the worst player.

The problem with mobile banking deployments is that so many things must work in order for the service to be delivered. If any of these things are not in place or working, the total mobile banking solution would be disfunctional. Mobile banking deployments are a team sport that is dependent on all components working, and this means that if any thing goes wrong, all will not work.

For instance, even if the software on the handset work, the connectivity is in place, all the registrations and the routing through the firewalls are sorted and the connection to the bank and the security server are operational, a bill payment transaction will fail if the connection to the bill-payment server is slow, times out or is not available. It is insightful to sit down and trace all the transactions and the many number of elements that are touched in order to deliver a simple transaction. And what makes it worse, is that the service is as good as the worse component.

Nick Hughes - the real person behind mPesa

It is often the people behind the scenes that make things happen. Not always in the spotlight and not trying to be famous, but focused on the issues - these people are the real heroes in life. This is also the case with mPesa. Many people contributed to it being so successful, but the driving force behind the concept, the guy that conceived it initially and drove the project till completion is Nick Hughes.

Nick recently left Vodafone and started Signal Point Partners (Read here). What I find really satisfying (and another reason why I will keep on reading the Economist) was that Nick (with Susie Lonie) will be receiving the Social and Economic award for their outstanding contributions in the field (Read here). I think that this is well deserved. One should applaud the Economist to find and recognise the real people behind the success stories.

How To Write An Effective Cover Letter

Writing an effective cover letter that generates interview is not easy. There are lots of skills and strategies in it.When I do the resume critiques for my readers, I notice something in common. I can’t say these are errors, but things need improvements.Repeat ExperiencesMany tend to re-write their experiences which were mostly captured in their resumes. A better strategy is to summarise your USP

Long term care Insurance

If you are thinking that long term care insurance is for only those people who are old then its wrong. Insurance for long term health care is important for every age group. There are many insurance policies available with various amount. People might find that the charge of long term care insurance is expensive but those who are taking care of their old parents know the importance of this kind of insurance.

Every people want to live independent and its better to get ensure not to be burden on anyone. In long term care insurance always you should keep in your mind that age of the applicant is major factor. If the age of the applicant is less then less premium amount need to pay. In case of long term care insurance if you will apply in your young time then you will get discount in your insurance scheme as well as secure your future too.

We know that anything can happen at any time in our life and if suddenly any accident happen to anyone and become a victim of a long and critical situation on that point of time the bills and health care services are the concern. In this situation your long term care insurance helps you in correct way. You should apply in those insurance company which are trusted company as results you won't have problem during your claims.

As I said earlier that if the age of the applicant is less then he needs to pay less premium as well as if the health of the applicant is good then definitely the applicant will get a specific discount in his premium. Once the premium is fixed it does not get changed whatever your health condition afterward. You have to go through with some health test as per the insurance company policy and submit the papers of relevant to the health tests.Always remember that no one should apply their long term care insurance on the basis of wrong report of the health tests otherwise it will get rejected.

In this way with the help of long term care insurance you can make your future life better and you will get peace in your present life.

After retirement “ my life “

We always think good to live in our present as well as in future days. As we know that in present we are working and getting salary at the end of the month. So, we are enjoying our present time in a good way. But one time will come when we have to retire from our job and then we won't get the salary. So, its a good to plan for the future so that we are in a position to enjoy what lies ahead.

Life insurance is a big financial tool that gives us double benefit. We can see that in one way it helps us plan for important long term goals. In other way it gives us tax benefits that help to enjoy our today even better.

So, how should we think about planning for the retirement ? In your first step, you should decide about your post retirement life style. After that calculate all the cost which will need after your retirement. As per your requirement and your present income you should consult with insurance agent. There are many insurance companies available in our country who deal with retirement policy.

You can get all the information about retirement policy with these different insurance companies. Once you understand about the retirement insurance policy then apply.

In this way you will get post retirement life style the way you want and can enjoy your rest of life.

How to Kweeka respond to mPesa

I have been a Absa Bank client for the best part of thirty years. I am therefor exposed to their approach to mobile banking as a client more so than others. In the past, I have been direct in my comments of them, but it is all meant in good spirit. (Read here, here and here).

It is common knowledge that mPesa recently launched their mobile banking solution in South Africa. Other players in the market are responding to this initiative with their own offerings and others are likely to respond later. For instance, one of the larger banks were quick to announce their own mobile money remittance product. (Read here). As a matter of fact, FNB beat mPesa in announcing this a week before the mPesa launch.

Absa bank responded with a marketing exercise of note. It is called Kweeka. (Read here). As soon as I became aware of this new "product" I started analysing it to understand the features and benefits. The more I read, the more I got confused. This is not a product, this is a collection of everything that Absa conjured up during the past three years, neatly packaged with a new slogan: "You can do it Kweeka!". It almost feel like meeting an old friend with a new funny hairstyle. You think you know him, but something is not right... you feel like laughing, but nothing is funny.

Why Basel III is good news for mobile banking

With the recent turmoil on financial markets the banking industry was quick to respond with more relevant guidelines for banks. The new Basel III, recently announced, is all about the amount and quality of capital held by a bank. Capital (in effect) is the amount of assets a bank must hold to be able to withstand drastic changes in the environment. The new rules dictate different levels of capital adequacy as well as capital with more liquidity. (Read here).

Banks not meeting these guidelines have a number of options. The most obvious is to get the capital from their shareholders (either by raising additional capital, or retention of dividends). This is of course not an attractive option as it would ultimately lead to a reduction in valuation - something that neither executive management, nor shareholders really want.

The other alternative is to get more capital from clients, preferably capital that remains liquid. This means (in effect) that banks would want to ask their clients to deposit more money with them (but not in fixed high-yielding deposits). This also seems unlikely in an environment where fewer clients have capital that they could deposit, and they would definitely not like to do this in low (or no) interest bearing accounts.

The solution is actually painfully simple: banks should provide effective mechanisms to their clients that they can do payments without using capital-hogging instruments (like cash and cheques). In a recent study, it was found that Ireland could save EUR 1 billion annually if cash and cheques where to be eliminated from the system (Read here). This saving and the fact that cash will be reflected as capital on deposit with the banks, would help them comply with Basel III more easily. By implementing mobile payment solutions and making it easier for clients to embrace these electronic payment schemes (thus eliminating cash and cheques), banks will become more compliant without having to ask their shareholders to carry the can.

The importance of payment infrastructure to support aid activities

Our world has been rocked by a number of natural disasters of which the earthquake in Haiti and the floods in Pakistan are some of the most recent ones that spring to mind. The individual suffering and hardship of poor people are severe in such instances. Luckily, many aid organisations exist that offer support into disaster areas.

These organisations are dependent on many aspects and resources that are critical in the delivery of aid: transport, personnel, food, equipment, medical supplies. Without these and many other things, it would not be possible to offer support. If these things are not available in the stricken countries, it is possible to ship them from other countries. It may take some time, but after a few days, supplies can be landed in the disaster areas and aid can proceed.

One of the most important resources, required by aid organisations to be effective is a good payment system. Payment systems are required to distribute monetary aid, to pay local suppliers and to pay staff. (Read here). Substituting payment systems with cash leads to many types of inefficiencies and sometimes even to fraud and corruption.

Important components of existing payment systems are often also destroyed in disasters: ATM's and bank-branches washed away, connecting lines down, no electricity etc. Furthermore, payment systems cannot be flown in quickly or miraculously established in a few days. Payment systems requires many components that must work in harmony with each other and that cannot just be switched on overnight. This is why payment systems based on mobile communication, using simple handsets and not requiring expensive infrastructure are so well-suited for emergency work. Countries with well-established mobile payment infrastructure are in a much better position to respond in instances when they are confronted with disasters.

In search of the holy grail of mobile payments

Most mobile payment solutions are designed to allow their subscribers to perform payment transactions with each other seamlessly. It is often difficult to pay some-one that have not yet subscribed. At best, mobile payment solutions offer crude integrations to other payment providers. This is usually achieved through complex integration and often with confusing rules and procedures.

Establishing a mechanism that will allow subscribers of different systems to transact with each other easily is often seen as the holy grail of mobile payments. This feature is referred to as interoperability or interconnectedness (See one of my previous posts). Many attempts have been made to establish such a mechanism or platform, but with no success. The most notable attempts have been camouflaged as "hubs", the designers of these payment hubs trying to get many different operators to connect to their infrastructure.

Up to now, the integration of mobile payment platforms to other payment streams have been done on a case by case basis - often only supporting one-directional payments (either sending or receiving of money). Very few mobile payment operators have been able to offer a clean and open interface to other payment operators that have been accepted en masse. What is the route to this holy grail and how will it get established?

I believe that this will only be possible if such a schema is established by an entity without profit motivation. I do not believe it will be easy to establish such an inter-connected platform as a commercial endeavour.

Key players to trigger the mobile banking revolution

I don't think we always realise that we are witnessing a major revolution. We are living in the middle of a period in which the definition of money is changing, and this is happening in a very short span of time. When looking back on inflection points in the history, it is easy to see that it happened, but not so clear when you live during the time that it is occurring.

We are quick to look at the role that mobile operators play in this revolution, and also banks in many countries, but are they the most important catalysts? If it is clear which players trigger the growth of transformational banking, it would be easier to replicate it. It is still early to be able to be absolutely accurate on who these players are, but I would like to take a stab at it.

There are only two players that hold the key to making mobile banking happen. If these two do not play, the road will be long and bumpy and will probably turn into a cul de sac. The one player is the regulator and the other the supplier of sufficient capital to carry the initiative to critical mass.

Take and return “ Student loan “

If you are thinking about student loan then you should always know about the basics of student loan and all the options by which you will return your student loan.When you are applying for student loan then you should consider some basics points. Here, I have discussed some points about the student loan.

Always keep in your mind that you should borrow only that much of amount which you need for your education. Don't borrow more than you need as any excess amount will trouble during repayment of loan.

You should always careful that your student loan is only for your education. It means you should not use your student loan any other reason.

You know that you have taken student loan and you have to return it. So, make an early decision for repayment the student loan and implement it.

All these above mention points are basics about the student loan and you should consider it.

As you know that you have to return your student loan. So, here I have discussed with some repayment options. You will get different option for repayment of student loan.

In Graduated payments, the loan period may extend to 30 years in which you need to start repayment with small amount which will get increases as your salary get increases.If you want to repayment your student loan in monthly basis then you should take a option of standard payment in which you are required to pay off your loan every month for ten years. In standard payment you will get best interest rate.

There is also long-term payment option in which you are allows to pay a low monthly amount for upto 30 years. The interest rate is higher for this repayment option.

You can consolidate your payments in which you have to worry about paying one loan to one lender each month.

How to avoid Debts

In our life there are many requirement to fulfill our dreams and for that we need money. We want to complete our many dreams and without money it can not be possible as well as our lifestyle has a lot of influence to the way we spend our money. We can see that there are many people who save their money in banks but we also see that many people who like to waste their money in travel and shopping. This is the reason due to which many people obtain too much debts in their credit cards and they get tough to pay those debts. In this case people need to avoid too much debts.

In this article, there are some points which I have discussed to avoid debts.You should make a strategy that how you will pay all your debts. The main important point is that you should know what debt to pay first. You should know the interest rates and the lowest payment that you have to pay for each debt after that you need to pay bigger amount to those massive debts that give more interest rates so that it will not become huge.Always you should keep in your mind that you need to pay your dues regularly to avoid the accumulation of debts. If you won't pay regularly then your debt will get increase in overtime and many credit institution charge higher interest rates.You should always limit yourself in using credit cards. There are many financial institutions but do not get many cards from different financial institutions. These different financial institutions will offers you different proposal of cards but you should avoid them.

You should always keep in your mind that how much you can afford and on the basis of that make your budget accordingly. There are many people who are in debts because they bought the things which were beyond their budget. The best way is buy things only when you have cash at hand.

All these above points will definitely help you to avoid debts. If you will keep in your mind all these points then you won't be in debt.

The "will-be-able-to" index for media releases

It is amazing how many mobile banking articles announce intentions rather than achievements. I read a lot of articles especially with reference to mobile banking solutions and I am convinced that this a trend that we see more in our industry than anywhere else.

Take for example the following recent article on a mobile banking service to be launched in India (read here). Careful scrutiny of the article will show that the word "will" has been used seven times in an article of three hundred and forty words. In other words 2.1% of the words are "will". I would propose that we define the "will-be-able-to" index as 21 basis points in this case. The higher this index is, the more speculative an article would be on what will happen in the future, rather than what is possible right now. It is my contention that the average index for our industry would be higher than most.

I believe that this is because of a combination of
a. projects being extremely difficult to do and
b. high excitement about what is possible.
This leads to a situation where statements are made about what will be (or better may be) available in future. One should take articles with a low "will-be-able-to" index more seriously.

The need to feed the agents of mobile wallets

Making mobile banking deployments work is like connecting the dots in a big economic jigsaw puzzle. Only if all players in the complex eco-system win does mobile banking take off. If the economic benefit to key players are not clear, then they will not support the solution and it will go nowhere.

In most deployments, agents and the agent-network are probably the most critical element for the whole thing to work. It is therefore absolutely essential that agents benefit from running the system. As a matter of fact, the more they benefit, the more they will push the solution. It is in the interest of the operator of mobile banking services, to pay the agents as much as possible.

Often, mobile payment consultants urge operators to make the service as affordable as possible. They argue that subscribers will use the system if it is really cheap. If one were to make the fees zero, people would really use the system... WRONG!

If the operator does not generate sufficient revenue from subscribers, they will not be able to offer agents a big enough incentive to sign up customers and to motivate them to use the system. It is more critical to feed the agents, and not as important to feed the subscriber.

Utilising competitive forces in regulating for mobile banking

Financial regulators have a difficult balancing act to follow. They have the responsibility, on the one hand, to ensure that the monetary system work, while also making financial products available to as many of the population as possible. A very restrictive regulatory dispensation would probably be the safest approach to protect the monetary system, but would lead to exclusion for a large percentage of people.

It would also be irresponsible to just have an approach of "everything goes". While this approach may ensure that more people have access to financial services, this would put the whole system at risk.

Financial regulators in general follow a very prescriptive approach in the way that they regulate. Their view of the world is that some rules exist and that if an institution can demonstrate that they can (or intend to) conform to those rules that the institution would receive a license. It is almost a case that any institution has a right to a license if they can demonstrate that they comply.

Another approach would be to limit the number of licenses and only offer licenses to a select (pre-determined) number of institutions in a specific sector (say mobile payments). These institutions would be carefully selected, so that a highly competitive market gets created. In this way, proper market forces would keep the industry in balance. This is a novel way of looking at regulations with many pros and cons, but worth considering.

It is my impression that this approach (of creating a competitive environment for mobile banking/payments through only licensing a limited number of players) is being considered by more than one country at the moment. The most recent announcements from CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) and RBI (Reserve Bank of India) seems to encapsulate some of this thinking.

A helpling hand “Bank”

Banks are the big part of our finance industry as well as the role of bank is enormous in our life. We can see that in many way banks are associated with us in terms of credit card, debit card and different types pf loan. The facility of credit card and debit card of the banks are awesome in which we don't need to carry our money with us in this way we are safe with our money. We can use our plastic money ( credit card and debit card ) in almost every store in simple way. We can also take out our money from any automated teller machine ( ATM ) as per our requirement and ATM is available in almost everywhere. So, this facility of credit card and debit card are provides by bank and in this way bank help us. If, we want to deposit our money then we will first think about the bank. We know that bank is only good option for take care of our money.

Bank gives us many services which we could not count. The above example of credit card and debit card is just one service. There are many services like Business bank loan, car loan , home loan and many more services.As banks are providing these services, therefore we can make our life better with the help of these services. In this way, Banks are deeply associated with our social life and as I said that the role of banks are enormous.

We should not hesitate to contact with bank for any deposit or any kind of loan. There are many people who have lot of misconception about the loans that these bank loans are burden for them and they have to regret if they will take any loan but it is not fact. If, you want any information about the bank loan and other information relevant to bank then just approach to bank and clear your doubt and take all the relevant information.

My home Loan

Everyone want to live their own home. The home which will be completely in the name of his or her. But it is not easy to buy a home as we know that a lot of money is require to complete this dream. There will be many people who are working in a good organization and they are getting big salary. So, those people can easily afford or buy a home but every people can not afford because every people are not working in good organization as results they are not getting good salary. So, the question is that how they will fulfill their dream about own home.

This major problem can be resolve by bank home loan. We can say that banks are the complete helping hand for those people who can not afford a big amount for a new home.

Home loan is the solution for all those people who can not afford a big money for a new home. All of we know that bank provides home loan with a reasonable interest rate and now a days almost all banks are providing home loan. In bank home loan, there will be some rules and regulation and some formalities which we should take care of them. If we will fulfill their all the rules and regulation then bank will definitely clear our home loan. So, we can easily take home loan from the bank and after that the problem of money for buy a home will get solve.

In home loan, we don't need to return all the amount one at a time instead we just need to pay in installment pattern. So, in this way we won't have any big burden for return the home loan to the bank. There are many people who have completed their dream about own home with the help of bank home loan. So, if u don't have your own home then complete your dream with this helping hand “Bank home loan”.