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In recent times, mobile banking has become the best alternative for transactions associated with payments like bills, fees, and peer-to-peer payments. Therefore, the pace of adoption is increasing day after other. However, the numbers of customers are not equal to the expectations as there are several challenges and threats hindering in the way of excellence and growth of mobile banking. Therefore, this chapter has been written purposively to address all the elements that are associated with the use of mobile banking with special emphasis on Pakistan and other developing sides of Asia. In fact, concern towards Asian sides is mandatory as the continent has the massive charm to attract users towards the use of mobile banking, but there is a need for proper policy and concern from stakeholders in order to give a push to the technology, which is fruitful for society, environment, as well as economy. The study includes an in-depth discussion on factors that need attention to make the study implicative and thorough for conducting further research in the field of Fin-Tech and mobile banking.

This contribution discusses how multinational firms could serve poorer consumers in developed regions like Europe and through which business models, beyond the traditional corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. MNEs have still limited capacity to address poverty in developed countries, notwithstanding some experience they have matured in developing markets and the striking figures of rising poverty in Europe and the United States. This research focuses on a specific issue: the role of MNEs in addressing poverty in developed markets, either leveraging on their previous expertise gained in developing countries or designing novel ad hoc solutions. The capacity of Western multinationals to tackle effectively the challenge of profitably doing business at the base of the pyramid (BoP) represents a controversial issue in literature and an intriguing topic for international business studies. The empirical research is based on three case studies. The companies have already gained experience in targeting BoP markets in developing countries. They are analyzed in order to understand better their approaches and their applicability in Europe.

I examine patterns of making or deferring strategic repatriations that firms can use to either meet analysts' forecasts or defer to maintain future reported earnings flexibility. First, I examine the extent to which firms repatriate earnings from high foreign tax subsidiaries to decrease US tax expense, resulting in increased net income and lower cash taxes. Using federal tax return information, I find evidence that firms strategically repatriate these earnings to meet or beat current analysts' forecasts. Next, I find evidence that firms that are able to obtain current year tax reductions defer these repatriations in an attempt to build cookie-jar reserves. Lastly, I find that firms do not disclose high foreign tax repatriations (HTRs), even when required by SEC rules. This study contributes to the earnings management, tax avoidance, and disclosure literature by examining a discretionary tax planning strategy.

In this chapter different network operations are described in SGL, which may be useful for security applications. Basic network management mechanisms are expressed, capable of working on their own even if traditional communications and internet includings are damaged. These include network creation from scratch, finding paths between nodes, and creating routing tables (RT) allowing for shortest path communications. Also is shown the use of SGT for analysing distributed networks with social flavour by finding strong and weak components in them and changing their topology in crisis situations. Another example is how to outline different communities in a distributed social network, find their topographical centres and evaluate physical distances between them for predicting possible social conflicts, while doing this repeatedly together with simulation of spatial mobility of individuals in time.

Kenya basks of a vibrant digital financial sector from her mobile and digital financial services that have led to financial inclusions. On the flip side of it, the Kenyan digital loans sector is facing ethical scrutiny from all and sundry. Issues that are arising include a customer base being trapped in the debt trap, inflated pricing model, high interest rates, and short-term loan tenures. The sector is shrouded in poor transparency and many consumer rights infringement. Undeniably, providers inadvertently breach consumers' right to privacy and tend to promote ‘push loans’ with unsolicited messages to the vulnerable. Additionally, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in determining the suitability of loan applicants via algorithms is seen to be intrusive. With consumer data being mined from the mobile phone, data utilisation, mobile payment usage, airtime usage without users' express consent, it renders the sector an unethical jungle for hunting consumers. Furthermore, consumers who by default end up receiving aggressive uncouth and unprofessional treatment in a bid to recover the unpaid loans. New Product Development (NPD) should, therefore, listen to the consumer's voice for ethical concerns to be reflected in the final product. Thus, marketers should endeavour to give ethical dimensions in NPD a measurable attribute by constantly reviewing it. This chapter examines the ethical implications of developing digital loans in Kenya.

We examine the influence of ownership structure on a blockholder’s power in a firm. We first describe the presence and ownership stakes of blockholders in a comprehensive sample of US firms. We develop a measure of the influence of the ownership structure on a blockholder’s power and show that an average blockholder loses 12% of her potential power due to the presence and size of the ownership stakes of other blockholders. Further, the influence of ownership structure varies systematically with a blockholder’s rank and identity, with the second and nonfamily manager blockholders experiencing the largest loss of power.

Granting mortgages to customers likely to become insolvent was widespread in Spain during the housing bubble that burst in 2007, resulting in an unprecedented rate of home repossessions. The practice was usually legal, but if power relations, structural determinations, and asymmetrical access to information are taken into account, it appears abusive and socially harmful. Several sorts of people were involved in it: bank staff who, under pressure from managers, took advantage of their long-standing relationships with customers; real estate agents and mortgage brokers who saw a business opportunity in people’s aspiration to home ownership; and investment banking executives who devised sophisticated financial products aimed at masking risk. For them, selling risky mortgages was not only a profitable business but also a way to comply with norms, values, and expectations at play in their social settings. This chapter will show how mortgage lending and its evaluation as wrong or acceptable by actors in different social positions has a relational nature, and is based on diverging moral economies that guide economic action in the framework of neoliberalism.