M-pesa

A mobile-phone based money transfer service

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Kenya
Web	http://www.safaricom.co.ke/index.php?id=745
Maturity	Mature

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About the project Edit

M-PESA (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili for money) is the product name of a mobile-phone based money transfer service that was developed by Sagentia (later transferring to IBM in September 2009) for Vodafone. M-PESA was first launched by the Kenyan MNO Safaricom, an affiliate of Vodafone, in March 2007. 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. 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 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. 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. The technology platform for the service is provided by Microsoft and was highlighted as a key philanthropic initiative from Vodafone by Melinda Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at DAVOS in 2009.

In what ways is this project unique and creative? Edit

M-PESA is an innovative mobile transfer solution that enables customers to transfer money It is aimed at mobile customers who do not have a bank account, either by choice, because they do not have access to a bank or because they do not have sufficient income to justify a bank account. M-PESA is an immensely popular service offering that has radically changed both the financial and telecommunications sectors in developing countries and spawned a lucrative industry for mobile money.

What is the social value of this project? Edit

In the last few years, Africa has recorded the greatest mobile telephony growth in the world. In Kenya alone, there are over 8 million mobile subscribers, yet out of 33 million Kenyans, only 3 million operate bank accounts. Mobile technology is the ICT platform through which M-PESA transactions are carried out. The dynamic changes in the economy, have led to an increasing need to transfer money. M-PESA bridges this gap using technology that makes money transfer affordable, accessible, secure, fast and convenient.