Arkansas focuses mobile apps on state's underserved
Outreach to the underbanked isn't just for developing economies anymore. Asian site FutureGov features a post on Arkansas' outreach efforts to its poorer residents via mobile apps. The move reflects a shift by the state's poor to using smartphones as a primary Internet access point.
"If you’ve only got so much disposable income, people are going to make an effort to put that toward a smartphone in a lot of cases, and that becomes their lifeline," Phil Billingsley, general manager of Information Network of Arkansas.
At the moment, residents in 28 of Arkansas' 68 countries can pay property taxes through their mobile devices. Additionally, credit card payments to an incarcerated family member's inmate account can be made via a mobile device.
Arkansas' Game and Fish Commission also allows hunters to register deer and turkey kills through a mobile application, cutting down on the amount of time required for agents of the commission to compile useful data.
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