Poor/poverty is defined by earning less than $2/day, taking into consideration purchasing power parity. You do not know what poverty is till you cross that line. Things start to get really ugly!
Most cash transfer research is based upon conditional cash transfers. Which are small monthly payments based upon education, health or nutrition goals.
I actually like an organization called New Incentives that is able to uses the merits of cash transfers in a Watsi-like way...basically making it a conditional cash transfer. http://newincentives.org/transfers
(fyi, this is not self-promotional but I connected with the founder because I like their concept).
Wow, cool idea! From what I understand, you guys use cash incentives after a particular job/work/behavior is done or result achieved.
Building a technolog like yours (sort of a foursquare for developing countries) could have awesome implications for these countries. Keep us updated on HN please. This is great!