Some organizations are deliberately using mobile money to enhance their traditional offerings. For example, during a recent drought in Niger, a set of randomly selected house- holds received cash transfers via mobile money (Aker et al. 2011). In comparison with physical cash, this trial found lower variable costs for senders, as well as lower costs for recipients. Over the course of the crisis, recipient households also enjoyed better diets and depleted fewer assets. Insurance, credit, and savings services are now being developed atop mature mobile money systems. Kilimo Salama is a micro-insurance product that uses M-PESA to provide payouts to smallholder farmers whose crops fail. In its second year of.
