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  3. With smartphones taking the world by storm, a phone that can only send and r

With smartphones taking the world by storm, a phone that can only send and r

游客2024-05-03  57
问题     With smartphones taking the world by storm, a phone that can only send and receive voice calls and text messages may seem like a relic (文物)from a bygone age. Yet in East Africa, simple phones like these are changing the face of the economy, thanks to the "mobile money" services that are spreading across the region.
    Using the text-messaging capability built into the GSM system used by most cellphone networks, these services allow people without a bank account or credit card to use their phone as an electronic wallet that can be used to store, send or receive cash.
    It works like this: you pay cash to your local agent—often at the nearest corner shop, if you live in a city—who then tops up your mobile money account using a secure form of SMS text messaging. That money can be transferred to another person by sending an SMS to his cellphone account. People without mobile money accounts can receive payments in the form of a text code which can be forwarded to their local agent, who exchanges it for cash. To access the mobile money service, users have to enter a number and password into the phone, so any money that is stored on it should be secure even if the handset is lost.
    One of mobile money’s pioneers is the M-Pesa system, operated by the Kenyan cellphone network Safaricom. "Pesa" is Swahili for money. M-Pesa is now used by around 8 million Kenyans to pay for anything from school fees to grocery bills. It was joined last year by Zap, a mobile money service run by Safaricom’s main rival, Zain.
    Mobile money also presents an opportunity for millions to save securely for the first time. Storing cash leaves people open to theft, says Arthur Goldstuck of technology analyst group World Wide Worx in Pinegowrie, South Africa. "People are able to save and so they have a means to start planning for the long term."
    Mobile money could also have a future in richer nations, though it faces competition from the established network of ATMs, bank branches and internet banking. "I see mobile banking as a key way that people will bank in five years’ time," says Christopher Brearley, who investigates innovative banking technologies at the UK-based bank HSBC. "There is the potential for small transactions and person-to-person payments to move through the kind of mobile banking systems we see in East Africa. " [br] For the people who have no bank account or credit card, mobile money service can play the role of____
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答案 an electronic wallet
解析 同义转述题。第二段指出，借助于手机网络所具备的文本信息服务功能，人们在没有银行账号和信用卡的情况下可以把手机当成电子钱包来使用。所以本题的答案为an electronic wallet。
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