M-Pesa was launched in South Africa in 2010 with the hope it could capture a customer base of 10M users in 3yrs. However, 6yrs on the service only has 76K active users..why?
South Africa's largest mobile phone operator Vodacom has announced it will be scrapping its M-Pesa mobile money transfer system in Africa's second-biggest economy. For many pundits the move comes as a surprise, because M-Pesa has been a huge success in other African states - especially in Kenya where it was launched in 2007. The service allows people without bank accounts to transfer money quickly, easily and safely using their mobile phones. According to a World Bank report, only 12% of Africans with bank accounts use mobile money services. However, this is not the case in South Africa. Mobile phone usage is high - nine in 10 South Africans own a mobile phone - and a third of these are smartphones, according to figures from the Pew Research Center.
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