The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) has an interesting discussion on the merits of Kenyan-based cell phone banking initiative, M-pesa, and its counterpart in Tanzania on its blog: Read the discussion here.
Cell phone banking has the potential to make things move a lot faster in a region where a formalized credit structure has yet to be implemented. Transactions – both for households and commercial businesses – are able to become quicker and cheaper through money transfers done over mobile devices. However, as CGAP’s blog shows, there are other factors at stake, such as mobile service provider competition and geographic location.
