1. Mobile Money is Convenient.

Currently, many teachers and other civil servants must leave their workplace for days or weeks and travel long distances to collect their paychecks. When this happens, they leave their schools, hospitals, and healthcare facilities short staffed or closed, denying the public desperately needed services. Further, teachers and other civil servants have to pay the travel costs themselves, significantly reducing their effective take-home pay..

Mobile money, on the other hand, can be delivered right to the teacher, instantly, on their phone. They can then cash out with a local mobile money agent or save their pay in their mobile money account.

2. Checks and Cash are Expensive.

A recent analysis found that the addition of a mobile money component to Government of Liberia current payment processes could provide net benefits of more than $22.5M USD per year based on productivity savings of $13M USD from increased work time not spent traveling to pick up checks and another $9.5M USD in government worker travel cost savings.

Not only can mobile money save the government considerable sums of money, but also it’s more transparent and accountable than the current paper based check system.

3. Mobile Money is a Gateway Drug

If all goes well, mobile payments won’t stop with just teachers. This transition could be rolled out for healthcare workers, police officers, and other civil servants. And the benefits go way beyond the convenience of collecting a salary locally and saving the government money. These salary payments lay the necessary groundwork for a complete digital ecosystem that can lead to financial inclusion.

Even now, Liberians have begun paying for goods in the market, utility bills, and transferring money to relatives in other counties through mobile money. Eventually mobile money can provide families with access to products like savings accounts, insurance, and credit. Tools like these connect citizens to the formal economy and can help lift them out of poverty.