Pagatech will enable a cashless society in Nigeria and Africa – Management interview « Mobile Money Africa. Mobile Payment : Potential and reality for Nigeria. Accueil > Nouvelles The mobile payment industry will change the way consumers interact with financial services and make payments. Mobile financial services will include consumer accounts information, updates, alerts, bill payments, person to person transactions and remittances. The mobile will play a key part in the foundation of sustainable development in Nigeria. In a country where electricity and transportation are unreliable, the mobile phone is a driving force for change – and not just for voice calls. Mobile phones can address one of the biggest cost barriers in the value chain. The success of M-pesa in Kenya has demonstrated the strong compelling need for a platform that can empower Africans to make transaction cashless and without need to visit a Bank.
The mobile phone is a powerful channel for developing business. A mobile payment system therefore needs to adapt its technology and business model to its specific target demographic and not the other way around. IFC evaluates investment in Nigeria’s mobile money market « Mobile Money Africa. The International Finance Corporation may invest in the Nigerian mobile money industry if it is satisfied with the result of the due diligence it is currently carrying out on the industry.
Our correspondent gathered that the IFC was keen to play a major role in the country’s emerging mobile money ecosystem and was currently evaluating opportunities available therein. Areas currently being evaluated by the IFC include technology acquisition, e-Float management and agency network, according to investigation. The Principal Associate, Mobile Money Africa, Mr.
Emmanuel Okoegwale, who spoke with our correspondent about the development, said a number of international development organisations had also expressed interest in the country’s fledgling mobile money landscape. These organisations, according to him, are expected to play a major role in capacity building for mobile money operators in the country. According to CGAP, the majority of Nigerians lack access to formal financial services. Mobile payment gathers momentum in Nigeria « Mobile Money Africa. Mobile Money also known as mobile banking or mobile payment (m-payment) is the transfer of monetary value from one person to the other via mobile phones. Already, the success so far recorded in the telecommunications sector, where mobile telephony services are available to several millions of Nigerians, has brought m-payment into the front-burner of discussions towards accelerating measures to deliver Nigera’s own version of m-payment.
Recent Pyramid Research report has projected that the global mobile money industry would generate over $200bn by 2015 with a submission that the expected growth will ride on subscribers’ growing trust in the system in respective countries. According to experts, with over 89 million mobile subscribers in the country, Nigeria is key to the new mobile money growth in Africa after the success it recorded in Kenya with the Mpesa scheme. The essence of mobile money is to bring banking services to the unbanked in Nigeria. Managing Director, ExpertEdge, Mr. TechLoy ≡ 7 Nigerian Mobile Payment Solutions To Watch in 2011.
With the success of M-PESA in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, mobile payments have become an alternative to retail banking and other banking transactions in Africa. Infact, M-PESA attracted 9.4 million Kenyan users in just under three years and has recently partnered with Kenya’s Equity Bank to offer subscribers a savings account, called M-Kesho. Interestingly, Nigeria’s mobile payment space is heating up with several licences granted to operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Here are 7 mobile payment solutions for Nigeria to watch in 2011. MyPesa MyPesa is a mobile payment product of Kuiper Systems Ltd that enables businesses accept payments from users with their mobile phones. Paga Pagatech’s mobile payment service, Paga has been in pilot testing mode since late September 2010 and has allowed participants to use their cash to pay bills, purchase recharge cards, transfer money, etc via their mobile phones.
At launch this January, Paga aims to have at least 5,000 qualified merchants. Capturing the promise of mobile banking in emerging markets - McKinsey Quarterly - Telecommunications - Strategy & Analysis. Financial services for the unbanked are among the most promising opportunities for mobile-telecom operators hoping to counter slowing subscription growth with auxiliary offerings, such as banking, health care, and education services.
In emerging markets, formal banking reaches about 37 percent of the population, compared with a 50 percent penetration rate for mobile phones. For every 10,000 people, these countries have one bank branch and one ATM—but 5,100 mobile phones. A new focus on bringing financial services to the unbanked—those without easy access to traditional banking channels—represents a strategic shift for mobile operators. The very small deposits and loans held by poorer customers make them unprofitable for banks that use traditional delivery models. But mobile devices reduce the cost to serve customers by 50 to 70 percent, making it possible to offer financial services to a vast population once considered unprofitable.
A strategic shift toward the unbanked Exhibit 2 Enlarge. M-PESA: Kenya’s fast-growing mobile payment system « MIT Sloan Experts. MIT Sloan Asst. Prof. Tavneet Suri I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and so my research on M-PESA, the cell phone-based payment system that has spread like wildfire across the country, strikes a deeply personal chord. Most of my research on this has been in collaboration with William (Billy) Jack at Georgetown who lived in Kenya himself for a few years. We both experienced the frustrations of what in the US would be the simplest of money transactions, and felt that M-PESA could fulfill a need of many Kenyans. In practice, the adoption of M-PESA has been faster than we, and most other observers, had anticipated. But the adoption rate of M-PESA has been at rocket speed. What also surprises me about M-PESA’s widespread acceptance is that its users are not all rich and educated.
When my co-author Billy and I give talks about my research, people come up to us afterwards and say things like: “Surely M-PESA is changing the very fabric of the country, and could mean big things for Africa.” Mobile Money.