A Brief History of M-PESA
M-PESA was the first mobile money system in Kenya and is still one of the most popular payment methods. It has enabled Kenyans to transfer money via their cell phones and this has helped them avoid travelling long distances with cash or arranging for couriers.
The history of M-PESA began when Safaricom Limited launched an early version of M-PESA in March 2007.
This allowed users to send and receive money using their mobile phones by dialing a code — which only later became known as M-PESA . From then on, it was clear that the market would be dominated by people sending small amounts of money over short distances — whether it was simply shopping online or paying bills at shops that accepted payments by phone.
The M-PESA service was launched in March 2007 by Safaricom, the first mobile network operator to introduce this revolutionary feature. In Kenya and across Africa, M-PESA has become one of the most popular ways for people to pay for goods and services daily.
In fact, it has grown so popular that its use has been extended beyond Kenya’s borders: today there are over 100 countries where people can access their money through M-PESA (and another 50 countries where they’re already doing so).
M-PESA was introduced to help people transfer small amounts of cash using mobile phones and this helped them avoid travelling long distances with cash or arranging for couriers. In Kenya, it was launched in 2007 by Safaricom (now known as Vodafone Kenya).
In 2010, the service expanded from just Kenya to Tanzania and Uganda. In 2011, it began operating across East Africa after being launched in Rwanda during May that year. The service has since been extended to Burundi and South Sudan — both African nations that suffered civil wars between 1993–2005 — but have yet to launch into other countries like Somalia or Liberia due to security concerns associated with those regions being unstable at this time.
M-PESA was originally designed to be a person-to-person service. The only way you could send money was via P2P transfers, which means it couldn’t be used by institutions or businesses (like banks) to send funds.
The lack of this functionality meant that M-PESA initially had very little use outside of Kenya and Uganda. However, over time it became increasingly popular as people found ways to utilize their mobile phones for other purposes besides just making payments.
In August 2008, Safaricom introduced the ability for customers to use their M-PESA accounts to pay bills and purchase goods at selected outlets. The service was initially limited to Kenya and Tanzania, but it later expanded into Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
The types of bills that could be paid using M-PESA include rent or water bills; electricity charges; telephone calls made from any mobile phone with a SIM card (including landline phones); school fees for children up to secondary level; security deposits for landlords; car insurance premiums paid by drivers who have valid licenses; civil court judgments against debtors.
M-PESA was launched in Tanzania in 2008 and South Africa in 2010. It also launched in Afghanistan, India and Romania.
Mobile money is a financial service that allows users to make transactions through their mobile phones. It is a convenient way to pay for goods and services, and it’s especially popular among those who don’t have bank accounts or other forms of payments systems available.
M-PESA was launched by Safaricom Limited in March 2007 to enable users to transfer small amounts of money over short distances. The system was first used in Kenya, where there are high rates of poverty and unemployment.
M-PESA has been a great success for Safaricom and its customers. It has allowed them to transfer small amounts of money with the convenience of using their mobile phones, which have become essential in modern life.
