M-Pesa

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M-PESA (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili for money) is the product name of a mobile-phone based money transfer service whose initial concept and design was most assuredly developed by Sagentia (later transferring to IBM in September 2009) for Vodafone. The development was initially sponsored by the UK-based Department for International Development (DFID) in 2003–2007[1][2].

The initial concept of M-PESA was to create a service which allowed microfinance borrowers to conveniently receive and repay loans using the network of Safaricom airtime resellers[3]. This would enable microfinance institutions (MFIs) to offer more competitive loan rates to their users, as there is a reduced cost of dealing in cash. The users of the service would gain through being able to track their finances more easily. But when the service was trialled, customers adopted the service for a variety of alternative uses; complications arose with Faulu, the partnering microfinance institution (MFI). M-PESA was re-focused and launched with a different value proposition: sending remittances home across the country and making payments.[3]

M-PESA is a branchless banking service, meaning that it is designed to enable users to complete basic banking transactions without the need to visit a bank branch[4]. The continuing success of M-PESA, in Kenya, has been due to the creation of a highly popular, affordable payment service with only limited involvement of a bank[5][6]. The system was developed and ran by Sagentia from initial development to the 6 million customer mark. The service has now been transitioned to be operationally run by IBM Global Services on behalf of Vodafone, the initial 3 markets (Kenya, Tanzania & Afghanistan) are hosted by Rackspace.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Functionality
* 2 Markets
o 2.1 Kenya
o 2.2 Tanzania
o 2.3 Afghanistan
o 2.4 South Africa
o 2.5 Other Markets
* 3 Regulation and KYC Rules
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

[edit] Functionality

M-PESA Customers can deposit and withdraw money from a network of agents that includes airtime resellers and retail outlets acting as banking agents. M-PESA is operated by Safaricom, a Mobile network operator (MNO), which is not classed as a deposit-taking institution (such as a bank). Therefore, M-PESA may not be advertised as a banking service.[citation needed]

The service enables its users to:

* Deposit and withdraw money,
* Transfer money to other users and non-users,
* Pay bills,
* Purchase airtime[7][8].

The user interface technology of M-PESA differs between Safaricom of Kenya and Vodacom of Tanzania, although the underlying platform is the same. While Safaricom uses SIM toolkit to provide handset menus for accessing the service, Vodacom relies on USSD to provide users with menus [9].
[edit] Markets
[edit] Kenya

M-PESA was first launched by the Kenyan MNO Safaricom, an affiliate of Vodafone, in March 2007[3]. M-PESA quickly captured a significant market share for cash transfers, and grew astoundingly quickly, capturing 6.5 million subscribers by May 2009 with 2 million daily transactions in Kenya alone.

The growth of the service forced formal banking institutions to take note of the new venture. In December 2008, a group of banks reportedly lobbied the Kenyan finance minister to audit M-PESA, in an effort to at least slow the growth of the service. This ploy failed, as the audit found that the service was robust.[10]
[edit] Tanzania

M-Pesa has also been launched in Tanzania by Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone.
[edit] Afghanistan

In 2008 Vodafone partnered with Roshan, Afghanistan's primary mobile operator, to provide M-Paisa, the local brand of the service.[11][12] When the service was launched in Afghanistan, it was initially used to pay policeman's salary, which was set to be competitive with what the Taliban were earning. Soon after the product was launched, the Afghan National Police found that 10% of their workforce were ghost police officers who did not exist. Their salaries had been pocketed by others. Many police officers believed that they had received a raise or that there had been a mistake, as their salaries rose significantly. The National Police discovered that there was so much corruption when payments had been made using the previous cash model that the policemen didn't know their true salary. The service has been so successful that it has been expanded to include limited merchant payments, peer-to-peer transfers, loan disbursements and payments.[13]
[edit] South Africa

In September 2010, Vodacom and Nedbank announced the launch of the service in South Africa where it is estimated that there are more than 13 million "economically active" people without a bank account.[14]
[edit] Other Markets

Plans to expand the M-PESA product to India[15] and Egypt as well as the launch of an international money transfer service for M-PESA in Kenya[16] are the next steps ahead for M-PESA as of early 2009.
[edit] Regulation and KYC Rules
Wiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.
[edit] See also

* Mobile banking
* Mobile payments
* Vodafone
* Sagentia

[edit] References

1. ^ Financial Deepening Challenge Fund (FDCF). (No date). Vodafone UK/Global—M-Pesa (Mobile Money). Retrieved February 20, 2009, from http://www.financialdeepening.org/default.asp?id=694&ver=1.
2. ^ Vodafone. (2007, February 13). Safaricom and Vodafone launch M-PESA, a new mobile payment service. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2007/safaricom_and_vodafone.html.
3. ^ a b c Hughes, N., & Lonie, S. (2007). M-PESA: Mobile Money for the “Unbanked”: Turning Cellphones into 24-Hour Tellers in Kenya. Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, 2(1–2), 63–81.
4. ^ Ivatury, G., & Mas, I. (2008, April). The Early Experience with Branchless Banking (Focus Note No. 46). Washington, D.C.: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2640/FocusNote_46.pdf
5. ^ Dial M for money. (2007, June 28). The Economist. Retrieved December 6, 2007, from http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9414419
6. ^ from http://www.sagentia.com/News.aspx?Path=/Press_release_and_News_archive/2007/MPesa_update
7. ^ Vodacom. (No date). Send money by phone with Vodafone M-PESA. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.vodacom.co.tz/docs/docredir.asp?docid=3492.
8. ^ Roshan. (No date). M-Paisa—The Hawala On Your Mobile! Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.roshan.af/web/?page_id=475.
9. ^ Vaughan, P. (2008, July 15). Providing the Unbanked with Access to Financial Services: The Case of M-PESA in Kenya. Presentation given during the Mobile Banking & Financial Services Africa conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
10. ^ Cash Transfers Pose Threat to Banks Philanthropy Action, 26 February 2009
11. ^ Vodafone. (2008, February 10). Vodafone and Roshan Launch First Mobile Money Transfer Service in Afghanistan. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2007/vodafone_and_roshan.html
12. ^ Vodafone. (2008, April 8). Vodacom Announces Intention to Launch Vodafone M-PESA Mobile Money Transfer Service in Tanzania. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2007/vodacom_announces.html
13. ^ Rice, Dan. "One Cell Phone at a Time: Countering Corruption in Afghanistan". Small Wars Journal. http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2010/09/one-cell-phone-at-a-time-count/. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
14. ^ Staff Writer. "M-PESA launched in South Africa". How We Made It in Africa. http://http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/m-pesa-launched-in-south-africa/3611/. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
15. ^ Department for International Development [DFID]. (2008, May 9). Mobile phone banking in Africa [Video]. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNrDv4PQdCc
16. ^ Safaricom trials global M-Pesa money transfer service. (2008, December 5). The Paypers. Retrieved December 16, 2008, from http://www.thepaypers.com/news/printarticle.aspx?cid=736370

Mas, I., and Morawczynski, O. (2009). "Designing Mobile Money Services Lessons from M-PESA". Innovations. 4 (2).

Morawczynski, O., and Miscione, G. (2008). “Examining Trust in Mobile Banking Transactions in Kenya: The Case of M-PESA” IFIP WG 9.4-University of Pretoria Joint Workshop, Pretoria, South Africa.

Morawczynski, O. (2008). “Surviving in the ‘Dual System’: How M-PESA is Fostering Urban-to-Rural Remittances in a Kenyan Slum” HCC8 Conference. Pretoria, South Africa.

Omwansa, T. (2009). M-Pesa: Progress and Prospects" innovations / Mobile World Congress 2009. Pg 107-123. http://www.strathmore.edu/pdf/innov-gsma-omwansa.pdf or http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/INNOVATIONS-GSMA_FINAL-01-22-09.pdf

"Why has M-PESA become so popular in Kenya?" CGAP Technology Blog. http://technology.cgap.org/2008/06/17/why-has-m-pesa-become-so-popular-in-kenya/
[edit] External links

* Financial transactions & Mobile Technology in Emerging Economies (YouTube video)
* Mobile phone banking in Africa (YouTube Video)
* Mpesa Send Money Home TV Commercial (YouTube Video)
* M-PESA documentary (YouTube video)
* Banking Through Mobile Phones with M-Pesa (YouTube Video)
* M-Pesa progress and prospects or [1]
* CGAP Article - What you don't know about M-PESA (Blog)
* CGAP Brief- Observation of Customer Usage and Impact from M-PESA (CGAP brief)
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa"
Categories: Vodafone | Payment systems | Economy of Kenya | Telecommunications companies of Kenya | Economy of Tanzania | Communications in Tanzania | Economy of Afghanistan
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