Key Takeaways on the Cultural Underpinnings of Emerging Payment Systems Uptake from Maria Stephens and Vivian Dzokoto

Maria Stephens of USAID and Dr. Vivian Dzokoto of Virginia Commonwealth University share their key takeaways from the EPS Seminar #6, "Barriers to Mobile Money Transfer Uptake in Ghana." In this video, the two presenters discuss the cultural underpinnings of emerging payment systems uptake and considerations for public-private partnerships in the development of financial services.

Bio: Maria Stephens

Maria Stephens is a Senior Technical Adviser with the U.S. Agency for International Development and subject matter expert in emerging payment systems risk and regulatory issues with over 18 years’ experience in microfinance and financial economics. While a Financial Economist at the U.S. Treasury Department, Ms. Stephens was selected to participate in the development of policy and regulatory position papers focusing on derivatives and other related financial products and services.

Bio: Dr. Vivian Afi Abui Dzokoto

Dr. Vivian Afi Abui Dzokoto is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of African American Studies in Richmond, Virginia. For the past 2 years, she has also been a researcher funded by the Institute of Money, Technology, and Financial Inclusion, which is housed at the University of California, Irvine. Dzokoto’s major research interests lie in the application of quantitative and qualitative techniques to investigate the cultural grounding of money behaviors in developing economies and the cultural grounding of emotion and psychopathology in non-Western contexts. Her money-related research has explored various individual-level aspects involved in adapting to a currency redenomination and mobile money adoption.