LIRNEasia

Unserved by Banks, Poor Kenyans Now Just Use a Cellphone, The Christian Science Moniter

One of the world’s first cellphone-to-cellphone cash-transfer systems has been launched in Kenya. The system, called M-PESA, allows customers to transfer cash via their mobile phone, through an agent or store which supplies the cash. Launched by Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile service provider, the numbers of customers using this system has exceeded previous expectations, with over 450, 000 customers making use of this service, as of October 2007. However, despite its promising outlook, there are concerns regarding the regulation in place - or rather lack thereof - which could serve as a hindrance to future growth of this system.