George Ngigi Business Daily Africa Difficulty in negotiating profit sharing plans between Equity Bank and Safaricom has stalled the growth of M-Kesho, a World Bank report has said. M-Kesho is a mobile phone banking and savings platform that enables Equity Bank customers to save or withdraw money and also borrow small loans from their mobile
Tanzania: Time to Act Tough on Mobile Phone Banks
BY MBONEKO MUNYAGA Tanzania Daily News The Tigo mobile cash transfer service is one hell of a disappointment on many occasions. Simply put, one would be quick to ask me: “Then why stay with the guys?” The answer is equally simple: “Habits die hard.” I have been a traditional Tigo customer since the days when
Ghana suggests integration of mobile banking into mainstream banking, Africa accepts
Studies suggest that if countries make about 10% investment in mobile banking, it will lead to 1% GDP growth. And at the ongoing experts in finance and economic planning meeting of the AU/ECA in Addis Ababa, one of Ghana’s representatives, a Deputy Bank of Ghana governor, Mr. Millison Narh suggested to the meeting that mobile
Western Union: Growing mobile banking healthy
By Victor Karega The Citizen Correspondent Dar es Salaam. Western Union, a money transfer service provider, has said the growing mobile money transfer trends in East Africa do not threaten its business activities in the bloc, but rather provides it with more means of reaching even the most remote customers. Western Union regional director for
M-Pesa increases savings for users, says World Bank
George Ngigi Business Daily Africa Registration for M-Pesa, Kenya’s dominant mobile phone money transfer service, increases the likelihood of having some savings by 20 per cent, according to a new World Bank research. The survey found that 65 per cent of M-Pesa users reported having some savings compared to 31 per cent of those who
The Brave New World of Mobile Payment
By Ruediger Koch The recent MobileMoneyAfrica Summit showed impressively just how far ahead Africa is compared to the developed world when it comes to mobile payment. Of necessity, of course: Mobile phones are ubiquitous there, but only a minority of Africans hold a bank account. There are already serious efforts under way to create a
Nigeria: Cashless Policy – CBN Buckles, Shifts Kick-Off Date
BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE AND FAVOUR NNABUGWU VANGUARD The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said yesterday that it has postponed nationwide implementation of the cashless policy till January 1, 2013 and also granted partial exemption to ministries, parastatals and agencies (MDAs) only for the purposes of revenue collection. This was part of the amendments to the cashless
Nigeria:AERO Unveils New E-Payment Option for Customers with MobileMoney
AERO has introduced an entirely new, fast and convenient mobile money payment on the platform of U-MO. This is the first of its kind in the Nigerian aviation industry as Aero tickets can now be purchased from an electronic wallet through mobile phones. The new product enables customers to pay for their flight tickets using
M-Pesa’s new platform promises faster payments
Okuttah Mark Business Daily Africa Telecoms service provider Safaricom is migrating its pioneering mobile money transfer service M-Pesa to a new platform that will offer seamless connectivity to vendors of services such as electricity. It will also enable users to make instant payments for corporate services such as insurance. The migration, to be done in
MTN Uganda loses billions to mobile money fraud involving employees
Ugandan news sources reported last week that African mobile giant, MTN, reportedly lost billions of Ugandan Shillings from its mobile money service in a fraud case involving the operator’s employees. Though information about the fraud and the investigations around it is only surfacing this week, the fraud itself is reported have occurred in 2011. MTN
