Cashing In (and Out): Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Mobile Money in Malawi

Abstract

We present results from a randomized control trial on access to mobile money with 480 entrepreneurs in Malawi. Treated individuals received account opening assistance and basic training on mobile money and were encouraged to save. Withdrawal fees were waived. Seventy-three percent of treatment respondents made at least 1 deposit, and 53 percent made at least 5. Treatment respondents reallocated labor from business to agriculture, and we find some evidence for an increase in expenditures. Evidence suggests that treatment effects were driven in large part by respondents using the accounts for savings.