Girls across Africa will soon have money right at their fingertips—quite literally. Thanks to the Praekelt Foundation, which uses open-source technology to deliver information and services to developing countries, mobile banking is on its way to empowering young girls to become financially independent. The foundation is taking its custom-made mobile messaging app, Vumi—currently used in more than 10 African countries—and creating an easy way to turn prepaid cell phone minutes into savings, in which users can deposit, withdraw, and earn airtime minutes in exchange for digital currency. While mobile banking has been making its way to developing countries in recent years, this service is one of the first to work on feature phones—no data connection or smartphone required.

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