Thursday

Safaricom MPESA taking Kenya to another level

On this blog i tend to be more political but at this time let me take a step back and talk about safaricom's Mpesa. As much as we have no idea who owns a 5% of the company and also much anticipated IPO sometime this year, this company is going to empower regular citizens who have no access to banks due to high fees that they do charge.

Safaricom and Celtel have realy been trying to win customers but what safaricom has now done will definitely put some banks that have been upcoming on the check. Also the whole idea that a cell phone can transfer money will also open other avenues of e-business that is still considered luxury shopping in this part of the world.

I can also for see safaricom taking place of western union and pushing POSTA both the banking part of it and money transfer business unit further out of the market. Also banks that have benefited from small scale traders might feel the effect of this giant entering the money market.

This is what technology can do for you, empower people directly and indirectly. I hope this will make the government understand that technology does not hurt economy but upgrades the people living in that society. I hope that with new MPESA, people will be able to venture to e-commerce and serve markets and people who would have never had or ever will touch a computer.

When i read Bankelele article regarding money transfer sometime back i could have never though that it will be that soon that majority of Kenyans will start benefiting from the idea of phone banking. I just hope that Safaricom will look into option of sending money on line to a cell phone then i can forget (and so many Kenyans abroad) about that trip to Western Union or Money Gram

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

soon SAFCOM will have more money than CBK, if only MOI and CO, seems like now we have a chance to catch up with the first world

TOTOBAYA said...

Technology indeed does upgrade people's lifestyle, but shouldnt the political elite first make this techno available to majority of Kenyans if not all? As it is now technology is a nairobi exclusive, Mombasa and Kisumu coming in the distant corner. What does it matter to the majority if the techno is for the negligible? No wonder Equity bank is growing by leaps and bounds...bado we love queeing to withdraw money coz we cant use the ATMS outside, ignorance and unavailability our problemo.

Anonymous said...

and there is more to come, i believe technology will be the only thing that will elevate, upgrade and bring peoples lifestyle to almost the same level, for so long technology has been reserved for the elite and not the local makaa jamaa and mkokoteni guy.

HASH said...

I agree. Mpesa looks to be absolutely game changing.

I still think that there's room for a player that allows you to use all mobile platforms, but this will do the job for now.

Anonymous said...

AM JUST EXCITED ABOUT THE WHOLE IDEA, A FARMER CAN NOW SELL THEIR PRODUCE AND GET PAID ON THE SPOT, THIS IS GOING TO BE THE KENYAN DEBIT CARD

Anonymous said...

M-Pesa is going to revolutionalize the way we think about banking in Kenya. I dont work for safcom, but i can see some sense in the system so far:
1. Sending money to registered m-pesa users (read, people on safcom) and non-registered m-pesa users,
2. Depositing money to your m-pesa account,
3. Purchasing airtime.
These are just a few of the tremendous benefits delivered by the system. I just have one small issue with the whole thing, what are the security issues concerning the system and how has safcom addressed them? Do you think someone monitoring the safcom network check out your password...etc? What do you think?

Anonymous said...

Security is my question as well. Can anyone create a reciever and simply listen on the airwaves and record this information. If your cell phone is stolen and the theif checks the "sent messages" can they drain your account? Safcom should make public a white paper or any documentation talking about the security procedures in place.

Anonymous said...

I JUST HOPE THAT NOW WE WILL BE BANKING WITH SAFARICOM THEY WILL NOT FORGET US WHEN FLOATING THEIR SHARES.

Anonymous said...

why dont i agree with the security issue. you just have to be smart enough not to leave some of this info in your sent message, i do hope that thet will be providing one with a statement of their transactions, that way we are safe

Anonymous said...

Safaricom has done great to Kenyans by having this M-pesa service available to Kenyans, but today i am dissatisfied because the outlets opened today are only allowing for deposits only but no withdrawing...Naivasha Supermarket Machakos being one. Who will pay for my bills today before tommorow..

Anonymous said...

New kids on the block now in this biz is http://www.africashmoney.com which allows you to send money to a mobile phone in Kenya via the site from anywhere in the world.

Technology Enthusiast said...

I am loving this whole new world that Mpesa is opening up - i think one area where there is also big potential is in the online shopping payment using both Mpesa and Zap. and trust kenyans to see opportunities the guys at Rachel's Bargain Corner (www.enrakenya.com) have done a great job integrating the two services into their online check out system, they have made it look so easy. very user friendly i have to admit, and the automatic verification of the same is mind boggling.