Cash vs. Mobile Payments: One project, two very different stories

In November 2013, USAID’s TB Care II program implemented by University Research Co., LLC, began paying monthly travel allowance to Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) providers and nutrition allowances Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients using mobile money. In the first 15 months, the net direct and indirect cost savings from this switch was at least BDT 3,000,000 (around US$39,500). That's great news in itself, but the benefits to the project go beyond simply saving money. Here's that story, as told to us by TB CARE II staff Md. Hayder Ali Miah (Finance and Administrative Manager) and Dr. Md. Manzur-ul-Alam (Program Specialist, MDR-TB).