Kenya telecoms, mobile and broadband statistics and. Building inclusive payment ecosystems in tanzania and ghana. As the use of mobile phones for money transfer is relatively recent, there are. Mobile money is often successful because it is considerably cheaper than other alternatives to cash. Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile. Social networks of mobile money in kenya home imtfi. It points to the 159,000 mobilemoney agents in kenya, mostly working on the dominant mpesa system as well as the over 10 million accounts on mshwari, safaricoms. Money transfer operators like western union and moneygram, as well as card companies like visa, mastercard and amex all have multiple mobile payments initiatives.
Social networks of mobile money in kenya companies and schools, pay as you go solar power, and microloans. You can use cable, the cloud, wifi to share files between your pc and the phone. Mobile savings and credit accounts enable mobile money users to save while earning interest and get loans such as kcb mpesa and mshwari in kenya, and mpawa in tanzania. Mobile money services design and development for financial. Practitioners insight mpesa a success story of digital. In essence, mpesa is a persontoperson p2p money transfer system that allows individuals to make payments and send remittances. The case of kenya, ghana and nigeria conference paper pdf available may 20 with 4,450 reads how.
Mar 06, 2017 it points to the 159,000 mobilemoney agents in kenya, mostly working on the dominant mpesa system as well as the over 10 million accounts on mshwari, safaricoms online banking service. Prior to mpesa, mobile phone customers had engaged in trading prepaid airtime. Subscribe to our youtube channel for more great videos. Pdf regulatory frameworks and implementation patterns. Case study enabling mobile money transfer the central bank of. Zoona believed that its simple money transfer solution, which enabled customers to send and receive money without needing an account with a bank or mobile network operator, could scale. The resulting guidelines on international remittances through mobile money referred to as guidelines throughout the document illustrate how the mobile money industry and its partners are collaborating to ensure that international transfers conducted through mobile money are facilitated in a safe and secure manner. During the study period, the amount of money transacted through the. Mobile money is a recent innovation in developing economiesone of the first and most successful examples to date is kenyas mpesa. Sometimes, when using an agents account, mmoney customers are required to prepay an informal deposit fee in addition to the money they are sending via m.
The effect of mobile money transfer services on financial. After mobile money, most people reported using money transfer services as well as friends and family. Building inclusive payment ecosystems in tanzania and. Of these eight countries, five are in subsaharan africa, underscoring the outsized importance of mobile money as a means for increasing financial inclusion in this region. The latest report from the central bank of kenya shows that mobile money transfer has hit ksh. While translating it to figures per minute, mobile money transactions in kenya hit an average of sh14. Research report making sense of mobile money in urban ghana. Hearthholds of mobile money in western kenya findev gateway. Nearly half of the senders in all countries apart from burundi reported using mobile money for their. It highlights differences among the 4 countries and their financial regulatory environment.
Enabling mobile money transfer the central bank of kenyas. Context mobile phones and mobile banking in kenya the adoption of mobile phones has occurred at perhaps the fastest. How mobile money transfer is shaping kenyas economy your money. Mpesa could be used for money laundering in kenya, warns. The largescale adoption of the mpesa mobile money platform, both domestically and regionally, has made the country a global leader in mobile money transfer services. Zoona believed that its simple money transfer solution, which enabled customers to send and receive money without needing an account with a bank or mobile network operator, could scale across borders to serve tens of millions of unbanked consumers in africa. The sending of money by the donororganization, using emoney. On 15 august the cabinet secretary for the national treasury issued a legal notice1 officially giving life to the national payment systems regulations, 2014. How mobile money has changed lives in kenya gates foundation. Kenyas telecommunications market continues to undergo considerable changes in the wake of increased competition, improved international connectivity, and rapid.
Pdf regulations concerning digital payment systems, including mobile money, are being discussed in latin american countries at the moment. Some have likened the kenya police service to an institutionalized extortion racket. These are used to transfer files between usb devices. Pdf the effect of mobile money on saving and money. This raises questions as to why success has been uneven across countries. Enabling mobile money policies in kenya fostering a. Mobile money most popular in kenya, tanzania, and uganda. Mobile money systems, such as safaricoms mpesa money sending service omwansa and sullivan 2012. Most recently, a service called mshwari began offering mobilephone based.
This put to rest questions about the legality of mobile money. How mobile money transfer is shaping kenyas economy. Total accounts of kenyan banks and mobile network operators. Macroeconomic effects of mobile money in ganda at the regional level, available studies mostly focused on kenya have shown minimal macroeconomic risks associated with the expansion. Social networks of mobile money in kenya imtfi uci. Mpesa as a payments and money transfer platform was developed jointly by safaricom, a telco company, and the commercial bank of africa. There are two fundamental components of disbursing mobile money transfers that need to work hand in hand. Users of this system, can login to view this document. Most recently, a service called mshwari began offering mobile phone based savings accounts and microloans in 2012. The wave of mobile money transfer in kenya can be traced to introduction of mpesa johnson, 2012 and hence the reason for studying mpesa in making conclusions on the effect of mobile.
Mobile money seems to be providing users with prompt access to cash that they can use to pay for needed healthcare and share risk. Mobile money depositone of the transactions mobile money mmoney users can perform using their own or an agents account to cashin i. The benefits of mobile money in kenya best countries. Pdf the mapping of the alternative value storage and saving. Of these eight countries, five are in subsaharan africa, underscoring. Apr 08, 2019 kenya s telecommunications market continues to undergo considerable changes in the wake of increased competition, improved international connectivity, and rapid developments in the mobile market. By transferring money via the mobile phone, mobile money m money could potentially reduce the costs associated with providing cash transfers. Enter the following information to request a copy of the document from the responsible person. It further examines different regulations that have influenced the development of financial inclusion through the use of the mobile financial services in the 4 countries. Even more, there are a number of apps are now making transferring data much easier and faster. Mobile money operators typically leverage an agent network to. By transferring money via the mobile phone, mobile money could potentially reduce the costs and leakage associated with social protection programs. Macroeconomic effects of mobile money in ganda at the regional level, available studies mostly focused on kenya have shown minimal macroeconomic risks associated with the expansion of mobile money.
The same kenyan survey also shows a dramatic increase in national remittances. Mobile money transfers are one of the most popular ways to send money to kenya. Case study enabling mobile money transfer the central bank. The benefits of mobile money in kenya more a kenyan passenger uses a mobile phone and a bebapay card, a mobile phonebased money transfer service that allows transit. The resulting guidelines on international remittances through mobile money referred to as guidelines throughout the document illustrate how the mobile money industry and its. Context mobile phones and mobile banking in kenya the adoption of mobile phones has occurred at perhaps the fastest rate and to the deepest level of any consumer. Twothirds of kenyans who had sent money to family members or friends living in a different city or area in kenya sent the money via a mobile phone, making them the most. Mno mobile network operators par portfolio at risk mpesa is a mobile phonebased money transfer, financing and microfinancing service, launched in 2007 by vodafone for safaricom and vodacom, the largest mobile network operators in kenya and tanzania sms short message service is a text messaging service component. A study finds the mobilemoney service mpesa has lifted 194,000, or 2 percent, of kenyan households out of poverty, having greater impact on femaleheaded households and. The global leader in mobile money is kenya, where mobile network operator safaricom launched mpesa in 2007. In recent years, mobile money services that allow individuals to transfer pur. A global leader in electronic money transfers and payments, western union has more than 26,000 agent locations across the african continent and in april last year partnered with safaricom to. Mpesa m for mobile, pesa is swahili for money is a mobile phonebased money transfer service, payments and microfinancing service, launched in 2007 by vodafone group plc and. The receiving of funds by the recipient who must cash out their funds at a mobile money agent.
Kenya telecoms, mobile and broadband statistics and analyses. All five providers offer persontoperson p2p money transfers, bill payments and airtime topups. Mobile money services are available in all four markets, and some have gained significant traction over the past few months. Family networks of mobile money in kenya findev gateway. Mobile money in kenya by william jack, adam ray, and tavneet suri there is strong evidence that monetary transfers within networks of family members and friends are central to household risk sharing strategies and potentially to informal credit systems as well. Regulatory impact on mobile money and financial inclusion. Pdf mobile money transfer in kenya ronald m khavagali. Working paper guidelines on international remittances through. Pdf the effect of mobile money on saving and money transfer. Regulatory frameworks and implementation patterns for mobile money in africa. Regulatory impact on mobile money and financial inclusion in.
At low transaction amounts or for informal money transfer. Residents transfer money using the mpesa banking service at a store in nairobi, kenya, on sunday, april 14, 20. Making it cheaper and easier to send money may seem like a small innovation, but mpesa has had a profound impact on the ability of kenyan households to. This study sought to find out whether the introduction of mobile money has been accompanied by a significant shift in saving and money transfer practices used by lowincome earners in kenya. During the study period, the amount of money transacted through the mobile money transfers increased steadily from 0. Use your mastercard or visa to send money to kenya, uganda, tanzania, rwanda east africa to any mobile or bank account. Request a copy of the document university of nairobi. This case study of mobile usage at the base of the pyramid in kenya has been commissioned by infodev, a global partnership program within the world bank, and conducted by ihub research and research solutions africa. In an international comparison of 26 banks, mckay and pickens 2010 found that branchless banking including mobile money was 19 percent cheaper on average than alternative services. The groupe speciale mobile associations gsmas mobile money for the unbanked team publishes a yearly state of the industry report which shows that since 2011, the amount of active agents providing digital finance services has grown by almost 800% represented by the blue bars in figure 1, while the. Mobile money services started in kenya in 2007 through mpesa m for.
The center for global development is grateful for contributions from the. Heres how you can transfer data from pc to phone and vice versa. Mpesa could be used for money laundering in kenya, warns us. To establish the relevance ethical theories and values in the business involving money transfer. The introduction of mobile phonebased money transfer systems mtransfers, or mobile money in many developing countries offers an alternative infrastructure for delivering such transfers. Nearly half of the senders in all countries apart from burundi reported using mobile money for their last crossborder transaction. Financial inclusion in kenya financial inclusion insights. Cote divoire, the leading mobile money market, had five deployments and close to 6. In the last year, we sent more than 2 million transfers to mpesa and equitel mobile money accounts. Mobile financial services, known as mobile money, allow unbanked people to use their phones as a bank account. Working paper guidelines on international remittances. Uganda has seen explosive growth in mobile money adoption growing to 7 million registered accounts in. The research explores the best practice for service deployment, identifies optimal markets for growth, assesses key player capabilities, and provides the most indepth forecasts for a range. Documents and other research outputs and capacitybuilding manuals.