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> It was a combination of the right technology, at the right time, rolled out in the right way, with the right decisions from the Kenyan government to allow the
by Kinrany 5y ago
> It was a combination of the right technology, at the right time, rolled out in the right way, with the right decisions from the Kenyan government to allow the system
Right, the government was too slow to regulate this system before it got popular.
When a country has financial infrastructure but people are not allowed to use it, the main selling point of a new system is escaping centralized control.
- mschuster91 5y ago> Right, the government was too slow to regulate this system before it got popular. The thing is, there seems to have been no major incident requiring regulation. Almost all government regulations are not proactive but reactive, simply because of the "prevention paradox"... the most well-known case is fire codes, where the common saying is that they were written in (a lot of) blood. And as long as M-Pesa doesn't get used to finance terrorism, the provider disappears into thin air with all the funds or mass hacking leads to people losing their savings, why should a reasonable government risk too much regulation and thus the protest of the people?
- Kinrany 5y agoIf the government was reasonable, there'd be no need for an alternative banking system.
- mschuster91 5y agoTraditional banking systems require resources that are pretty expensive. You need somewhat decent roads, electricity for ATMs and branches everywhere, public transport so that people can go to a bank... M-Pesa and friends just piggyback on the existing phone network.