MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 84% of New Cellphone Users in Kenya Signing Up for Mobile Money Transfer

Mobile payments in Kenya reportedly are out-pacing debit and credit cards, as 83.9 percent of customers who signed up for mobile phone services between July and September 2011 also signed up for money transfer services. By the end of September 2011, 69.5 percent of all mobile users in the country were using mobile money [1].

Several mobile money providers offer mobile money services. The local office of India’s Airtel partnered with US-based MasterCard Worldwide and UK-based Standard Chartered Bank to launch a mobile shopping platform called PayOnlineInKenya in September 2011 [1] [2]. France’s Orange Money launched the Orange Money Visa Card, which allows phones to work as debit cards [1]. The mobile money service M-Pesa, which was developed by UK-based Vodafone Group Private Limited Corporation, is offered by local mobile phone service provider Safaricom. As of March 2011, M-Pesa reports having 13.8 million registered customers, roughly one third of Kenya’s population.

By Natalie Baer, Research Associate

About M-Pesa: M-Pesa is a Kenyan mobile money service. The “M” stands for “mobile,” and “pesa” means “cash” in Swahili. Launched in 2007 by Safaricom Limited, a Kenya-based cellphone service provider, M-Pesa was developed by Vodafone Group Private Limited Corporation, a British multinational mobile network operator. As of March 2011, M-Pesa reports having 13.8 million registered customers, roughly one third of Kenya’s population.

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] Mobile phone money transfers race ahead of debit cards
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate+News/Mobile+phone+money+transfers+race+ahead+of+debit+cards+/-/539550/1302062/-/h5j8tm/-/

[2] Bharti Airtel http://www.airtel.in/

MicroCapital Universe Profile: M-Pesa,
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=M-Pesa

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Standard Chartered PLC,
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Standard+Chartered+PLC

MicroCapital.org story, August 16, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Reach Expands in Kenya As Safaricom Capitalizes on Kenyan Government Requirement to Register All Mobile Phone Users,”
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microfinance-reach-expands-in-kenya-as-safaricom-capitalizes-on-kenyan-government-requirement-to-register-all-mobile-phone-users/

MicroCapital.org story, August 3, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Kenya Requires Mobile Phone Carriers to Adopt Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard,”
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-central-bank-of-kenya-requires-mobile-phone-carriers-to-adopt-payment-card-industry-data-security-standard/

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