Leading mobile payment system M-Pesa has announced that it will be reducing fees in Kenya as means to make the service more assessable and consumer friendly, however, with one of Kenya’s leading financial institutions (Equity Bank) prepping its own mobile payments system, the move could be to consolidate its market leading position.
According to the company, from this week moving forward M-Pesa’s 19.3 million users will see the cost of making a payment between 10 ($.11) shillings and 1500 ($17) shillings fall by a sharp 67%.
“It is our belief that by lowering the cost of these transactions we will provide an increased number of Kenyans with affordable access to basic financial services,” said Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, which operates the M-Pesa service, in an article on Finextra.
Whether the announcement by M-Pesa is simply due to wanting to provide more affordable services to the millions of unbanked and underbanked consumers in Kenya who live on the very low incomes or whether it is due to the launch of a rival service, in the end the consumer is winning out either way and providing a more competitive market for mobile payments in the country.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, International Advisory Services
To read the full story, go to Finextra.