M-PESA and the eWallet Solution

Why Mobile Money Took Off in Kenya

Mobile payment and money transfer is popular in Kenya for many reasons. Not only is it seen as safer than carrying and using physical money, but it allows the unbanked access to a full range of secure financial services — around twice as many Kenyans use M-PESA for financial transactions as have bank accounts. Many Kenyans do not fully trust the traditional banking system, which is susceptible to political instability, and much of the activity involves money being transferred from workers in urban areas to family in rural areas. Smaller towns and villages may not have a bank but will have a local M-PESA agent, making mobile banking convenient and accessible, with only a small fee paid for each transaction.

The Expansion Challenge

Although M-PESA has begun to expand, with Tanzania a large and increasing market, progress outside Africa has so far been slow. One reason is that in Africa, cashiers in most stores — including large multi-lane stores — are provided with a mobile phone instead of electronic cash registers (ECRs), creating the perfect ecosystem for millions of payments through peer-to-peer mobile communication. In the EU, the use of mobile phones instead of ECRs for in-store transactions is not acceptable, restricting the opportunity for M-PESA to grow.

M-PESA, Carrefour (Kenya) and Ogloba

Facilitated by a development of Ogloba's eWallet platform, Carrefour (Kenya) recently became the first retailer to fully integrate the M-PESA payments service with their cash registers, adopting it as a payment channel across its stores. The service removes the need for manual verification at the checkout, making the payment process faster and more convenient.

How Customers Pay

To pay, customers go to their M-PESA menu, select Buy Goods and Services, then enter the cash-register number and amount due. After verifying the payment with their unique M-PESA PIN number, customers immediately receive a receipt, the transaction having been securely processed.

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