3 ms·

Mobile Banking Takes off in Kenya

13 points by cwan 16y ago

bergie 16y ago
I got to play with M-Pesa when I was in Kenya for Christmas. Very cool system, especially the fact that it works on all the cheap dumbphones that people there have instead of requiring fancy NFC-capable phones and payment terminals. http://www.qaiku.com/channels/show/FutureStore/view/a1ff6df41d0c11e0bb9d492282dc8d8c8d8c/ http://www.qaiku.com/channels/show/FutureStore/view/a1ff6df4...
thinkcomp 16y ago
M-PESA is routinely discussed at mobile payments conferences and among top bankers as the proof of concept for mobile payments. It's always a bit strange since it's not often in the technology industry that Africa seems years ahead of the United States. I think it's a good example of a space where not a lot of institutional investors (VCs, angels, others) here in the States have been willing to commit dollars because it's a long-term endeavor with competition--in other words, exactly the kind of business that venture capital is supposed to help bolster. It's a shame, really, because there are probably many other innovations with serious implications (i.e. not consumer internet startups) that have suffered a similar fate at the hand of a weak and risk-fearing investment community. Maybe Obama's new policy will help change that.
_djo_ 16y ago
It's worth noting that M-PESA is spreading outside of Kenya. Last year it had a highly-publicised launch in South Africa, backed by the country's largest mobile operator and fourth-largest bank. While the country has a well-developed and high-tech banking system, its banks serve mostly the middle and upper classes and the business community and have been unable to come up with viable banking products for the approximately 13 million people without bank accounts. It's hoped that M-PESA will fill that gap. This isn't the first mobile phone payment system to have been tried in South Africa; although the only one to have achieved any level of success was MiMoney, backed by another major bank. But the level of support behind M-PESA is massive and early indications are that it will see a similar level of success to what it achieved in Kenya. Already a number of major retailers are adding it to their systems as a valid payment option or have already done so.

13 points by cwan 16y ago

I got to play with M-Pesa when I was in Kenya for Christmas. Very cool system, especially the fact that it works on all the cheap dumbphones that people there have instead of requiring fancy NFC-capable phones and payment terminals. http://www.qaiku.com/channels/show/FutureStore/view/a1ff6df41d0c11e0bb9d492282dc8d8c8d8c/ http://www.qaiku.com/channels/show/FutureStore/view/a1ff6df4...

thinkcomp 16y ago

M-PESA is routinely discussed at mobile payments conferences and among top bankers as the proof of concept for mobile payments. It's always a bit strange since it's not often in the technology industry that Africa seems years ahead of the United States. I think it's a good example of a space where not a lot of institutional investors (VCs, angels, others) here in the States have been willing to commit dollars because it's a long-term endeavor with competition--in other words, exactly the kind of business that venture capital is supposed to help bolster. It's a shame, really, because there are probably many other innovations with serious implications (i.e. not consumer internet startups) that have suffered a similar fate at the hand of a weak and risk-fearing investment community. Maybe Obama's new policy will help change that.

_djo_ 16y ago

It's worth noting that M-PESA is spreading outside of Kenya. Last year it had a highly-publicised launch in South Africa, backed by the country's largest mobile operator and fourth-largest bank. While the country has a well-developed and high-tech banking system, its banks serve mostly the middle and upper classes and the business community and have been unable to come up with viable banking products for the approximately 13 million people without bank accounts. It's hoped that M-PESA will fill that gap. This isn't the first mobile phone payment system to have been tried in South Africa; although the only one to have achieved any level of success was MiMoney, backed by another major bank. But the level of support behind M-PESA is massive and early indications are that it will see a similar level of success to what it achieved in Kenya. Already a number of major retailers are adding it to their systems as a valid payment option or have already done so.