Mobile money: why isn't the M-Pesa effect hitting more countries?
|
Version 0 of 1. A factory worker in Mumbai is about to settle down to a snack of samosas and chai when he gets a call from his wife in Uttar Pradesh who complains she is out of cash. No problem he says, and hangs up to send a transfer via text message. This is the latest ad for M-Pesa mobile money in India - part of a strategic campaign to target migrant workers. M-Pesa launched in India two years ago, but so far it hasn’t had the huge impact it made in Kenya. In September 2014 M-Pesa had 370,000 users in India, where Vodafone, who provide the service, has 173 million customers. This is despite the country having huge potential in this area, with high mobile penetration and millions lacking bank services. Mobile money was so successful in Kenya because of a combination of government support and consumer demand, which was driven by the need for secure cash transactions during political instability, says research from the University of Manchester. World Bank economist Wolfgang Fengler adds that having a mobile operator (Safaricom) with more than 50% market share also helped. As access to financial services is recognised as key for ending poverty, how can mobile money be be encouraged in more developing countries? Do governments need to do more to support it? What’s the best way to educate users about the value of the service? Join an expert panel on Thursday 23 April, 1-3pm BST to discuss. The panel Natalie Baatjies, senior director for financial inclusion in the central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region, Visa, Cape Town, South AfricaNatalie has held several senior roles at Visa across the mobile money value chain including: market development, strategy consulting and commercialisation. Stone Atwine, co-founder, Remit.Ug, Kampala, Uganda, @StoneAtwineStone is CEO of Redcore Interactive, a payments company that specialises in mobile financial services. Remit.Ug is its first platform, which helps facilitate international money transfers from cards and bitcoin to mobile money. Rajiv Bhatia, head of m-commerce sales Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Ericsson M-Commerce, Dubai, UAE, @mobilerajivRajiv is involved in supporting growth of mobile money, mobile banking and money-transfer solutions. Nambuwani Wasike, research associate, Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) - Kenya, Nairobi, KenyaWasike is a research specialist focusing on digital finance. Greg Reeve, chief operating officer, mobile financial services, Millicom, London, UK, @seat2dGreg leads mobile financial services operations across eleven markets in Africa and Latin America. Scarlett Fondeur Gil, economic affairs officer, division on technology and logistics, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland @UNCTADScarlett helps produce the information economy report and develop information communication technology (ICT) statistics in developing countries. Alix Murphy, senior mobile analyst, WorldRemit, London, UK, @AlixinLondonBefore her current role, Alix worked as market intelligence manager for the GSMA, where she focused on mobile money. Amitabh Saxena, managing director, Digital Disruptions, Washington, DCAmitabh is the founder of Digital Disruptions, a mobile payments consulting firm, and previously headed mobile money for MasterCard in Latin America. Mike McCaffrey, principal consultant - strategic operations for digital finance, The Helix Institute of Digital Finance, Nairobi, Kenya, @MobileMcCaffreyMike provides digital finance research, training and consulting services to banks and telecom companies. Maria May, senior programme manager, Brac, Dhaka, Bangladesh, @MariaMayhem523Maria leads Brac’s social innovation lab and research and development for the microfinance programme. The live chat is not video or audio-enabled but will take place in the comments section (below). Get in touch via globaldevpros@theguardian.com or@GuardianGDP on Twitter to recommend someone for our expert panel. Follow the discussion using the hashtag #globaldevlive. |