M-Pesa And The Rise Of The Global Mobile Money Market

From Forbes –

“Most people probably don’t think of Kenya as an innovation and technology hub, but in 2007 it became the launching pad for M-Pesa, a transformative mobile phone-based platform for money transfer and financial services. Since then, M-Pesa has undergone explosive growth: in 2013, a staggering 43 percent of Kenya’s GDP flowed through M-Pesa, with over 237 million person-to-person transactions. M-Pesa is nearly ubiquitous in the daily lives of Kenyans due to a range of services that include money deposit and withdrawal, remittance delivery, bill payment, and microcredit provision.”

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Apple isn't the greatest innovator in mobile payments

From betanews –

“Every week the technology world holds its breath with anticipation as the latest tech giants make new strides into the mobile payments sector. After years of low consumer take-up of services like Google Wallet and Square, the launch of Apple Pay last year was hailed as a pivotal moment, signaling the time when mobile payments would finally go mainstream.

With mega players like Facebook and Microsoft now joining the peer-to-peer money sending and digital payments fray, even sceptics are wondering if 2015 might truly be "The Year of Mobile Payments". Yet what many don’t realize is that these services are already lagging 10 years behind. The rest of the world is paying attention to a different mobile payments phenomenon - one that’s been taking place thousands of miles away. Last month, global telecoms body GSMA revealed that the number of active users of Mobile Money -- a service which enables users to send and receive money from basic mobile phones without requiring a bank account or payment card -- had doubled from 2013 to reach 103 million globally.”

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Uber's battle for Kenya

From USA Today –

“One night last month I ordered an Uber ride. It was late. On my iPhone I watched the little car icon zoom right past my street, U-turn and park a quarter-mile down the road. Perhaps the driver was lost? I waited and waited and waited for him to call, and eventually gave up after 10 minutes and called him myself. "Zero points for initiative," my housemate muttered.

This is Uber. In Nairobi.”

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Mobile money stalls in SA

From IT Web –

“What are the factors that will influence the uptake of mobile in South African banking?

The cost-to-income ratio is debatably one of the most significant ratios in any bank's yearly reports. It indicates how much of every rand earned is used towards the payment of the running of the bank, and therefore, how proficient the bank is in the process of creating value for the shareholders.

One aspect the South African banks are focusing on in their pursuit to improve the ratio is to moderate customer dependence on branches and to urge customers to start using cheaper self-service delivery channels, like the Internet, cellphones, automated teller machines, and mobile money. The banking industry is looking at digital banking services as a resource of reduced operating costs and as an area to use to hold on to customers.”

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