Description

Mobile Money was introduced in Kenya in 2007 through the launch of the M-PESA Mobile Money transfer service by Safaricom. Since its inception, M-PESA has seen unprecedented growth with many other players partnering or riding on its infrastructure to offer their services. Among these are savings and credit, mobile banking, digital lending, bill payments, and insurance among others. This book traces the journey of mobile money in Kenya; first documenting conditions before its launch, conditions necessitating its rapid adoption, partnership formation, financial inclusion and digital lending and thereafter making a case for mobile money as a promising model for financial inclusion.

About Author

Dr. Martina Mutheu holds a PhD in Communication and Information Studies, an MSc in ICT4D, MA in Communication Studies and a Bed in English and Literature. She is currently a Senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi. She has carried out ethnographic studies in the uptake and use of mobile money products in Kenya and is actively involved in the mobile money industry as a Content Service Provider and product design and implementation consultant. She is an innovator with several innovative solutions in ICT4D notably; the M-ASCA Model (LT-12652 by the Copyright Board of Kenya) an end-to-end savings and credit platform that helps informal groups manage their operations on the phone and The OnNet Learning Solution (copyright No. RT02382) among others. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and presented papers at various conferences in Kenya and abroad.