Bill Gates’ charitable foundation has pledged $12.5m (£8.6m) to help the world’s poor access banking services. The BBC reports.

“Working in conjunction with the mobile phone industry, the foundation aims to help provide a basic service that local banks are unable or unwilling to give. It is thought that more than a billion people worldwide do not have a bank account but do have a mobile phone.

The foundation says that extending banking services to the world’s poor is vital for economic progress.

… Research by consultants McKinsey estimates that the mobile money market for people without a bank account could grow to $5bn over the next three years.”