In a recent column in US daily The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof argued that, “What we need is a savings revolution. Right now, the world’s poor almost never have access to a bank account. Cash sits around and gets spent — and, frankly, often spent badly…. Research suggests that the world’s poorest families (typically the men in those families) spend about 20 percent of their incomes on a combination of alcohol, cigarettes, prostitution, soft drinks and extravagant festivals.”

In one indication of the value people place on having a safe place to save can be found in West Africa, where people pay “susu” collectors for the service. Kristof reports that the annualized rate paid by depositors to susus can be as high as 40 percent.

Source New York Times column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/opinion/31kristof.html