Author: BWild

Recent estimates show that 1.7 billion women in these countries do not own cell phones.

According to the data that was released in a recent report, there are more than 1.7 billion women in countries with low- and middle-incomes, who do not own mobile devices, representing a massive gender gap within those nations.

The average woman in those economies is 14 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than a man.

This, according to the same report, by the GSM Association (GSMA), and that was entitled “Bridging the Gender Gap: Mobile Access and Usage in Low- and Middle-income Countries”. The estimate of a 14 percent lower likelihood of women having mobile devices than men would mean that there is a gender gap of 200 million people. This represents a powerful disadvantage for female residents of those countries, and a weaker opportunity for communication, information, and other resources that are vital components to equal prospects for achievement.

This gender gap in the ownership of mobile devices is considerably higher in certain specific regions.

For example, the report stated that “In particular, women in South Asia are 38 percent less likely to own a phone than men, highlighting that the gender gap in mobile phone ownership is wider in certain parts of the world.”

The GSMA director general, Anne Bouverot, said explained that the widespread availability and affordability of mobile phones offers the people of the world an “unprecedented opportunity to improve and enhance social and economic development,” but at the same time, as women are now owners of these gadgets to the same degree as men, they have a tendency for being “left behind” not only as device owners, but also as mobile consumers.

She went on to say that there will be a considerable benefit to women if the gender gap in the ownership of mobile devices is addressed. That said, the report identified the leading five barriers to the ownership of mobile phones by women, which include cost, security and harassment over this channel, network coverage and quality, technical literacy, operator or agent trust, and issues that have to do with confidence.

Tokenization could help make mobile payments in Australia more secure for businesses and consumers

Visa has begun rolling out a new tokenization initiative in Australia. Tokenization is a relatively new trend that has begun to emerge in the mobile payments field. It involves replacing a consumer’s personal and financial information with digital tokens, which can be used to authenticate mobile transactions. These tokens add a new layer of security to mobile payments, as they do not contain financial information, which makes them a less attractive target for those that would seek to exploit such information.

Tokens bring a new layer of security to the mobile space that is difficult to break through

Digital tokens take the form of a unique, 16-digit number. This process is becoming more popular in the mobile payments market due to the risks that exist in the digital world. Over the past few years, cyber attacks against companies that support mobile commerce, and consumers that partake therein, have increased. With cyber attacks becoming more common, businesses are looking for better ways to protect themselves and their customers. Visa is one company that is offering a solution to this problem.

Stolen tokens are largely useless to hackers

Visa is making its tokenization technology available in Australia, which could help foster the growth of mobile payments in the country. Visa notes that if tokens are actually stolen by malicious parties, it cannot be used elsewhere, and tokens can be deactivated in a quick manner. Tokens are generated in and are unique to every payment environment, which means that they cannot be used on other platforms unless they are generated for that platform specifically.

Australia’s mobile payments space could experience growth due to the incorporation of token technology

Security has long been a serious problem for the mobile payments space. Because of the relative youth of this sector, security measures have not yet caught up with the risks that exist therein. Tokenization could help make mobile payments more attractive to consumers and businesses, many of whom believe that participating in mobile commerce is a risk to their financial information.