AN EMERGING PLATFORM:FROM MONEY TRANSFER SYSTEM TO MOBILE MONEY ECOSYSTEM

Jake KendallBill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Philip MachokaUnited States International University

Clara VeniardBill and Melinda Gates Foundation Bill MaurerUniversity of California, Irvine ~ Department of Anthropology

INTRODUCTION

Overview of MPESA money transfer 13.8m registered users 26,000 retail agents 290 Pay-bill partners Kshs 47billion P2P transfer in March 2011 Kshs. 800billion cumulative value of

transaction- Source: Safaricom, March 2011

Source: Safaricom

Mobile Money as:

Network infrastructure

Platform

WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO.

How market players are harnessing MPESA platform for new services?

What are the emerging ecosystem of MPESA enabled services?

HOW WE WENT ABOUT IT:

conducted a landscaping exercise through Internet research and phone calls

Had a mini-conference in Nairobi on January the 14th, 2011

brought together some financial service providers and IT service firms who have begun specializing in MPESA product integration

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

a significant integration of mobile money into products and services by pre-existing financial institutions in Kenya - “integrators”

a number of technology firms have sprung up to facilitate these integrations between financial service providers back end systems and the new mobile money platform - “”bridge builders”

a number of innovative new business which have created financial services operating solely over mobile money - “ innovators”

Integrators :- most financial service providers in Kenya joining mobile money platforms as a channel for their clients to make deposits and withdrawals from bank accounts.

e.g. - Equity – MKESHO- Family Bank- Meru mwalimu SACCO

Innovators:- new entrepreneurial ventures with purely

mobile based business

e.g.- Jua Kali Association- UAP insurance company partnered with

the Syngenta Foundation- Changamuka Microhealth Ltd.

Bridge-builders- Financial service providers and other

business integrating with MPESA- (software developers and integrators

specializing in MPESA platform integration) - e.g.

- - Tangaoletu – SpotCash- - Kopo Kopo

Institutions integrating to existing products and those launching news ones cite: Increased outreach Lower costs in reaching poor clients

Integrating challenges with mobile money Price of P2P transfer is still high Difficulty in integrating to MPESA API’s Challenges of integrators faces with new

clients Build trust Educate Cross sell new products Reinforce rapport

????????? Have we correctly identified the main barriers ?

What is needed to “kick start” the market?

If these barriers were to improve, would there be some other barriers to serving the poor that will emerge?

Will there be an ecosystem of Mobile Money enabled financial services reaching the poor in large numbers or is it just a dream?

Which players will be innovators who will make this happen? Fis? Telcos Startups? Or Everyone at once?

THANK YOU