Hi Sir
I admire your thought provoking write ups
See a research we did on the whole mobile money transfer space . will send you a copy of published paper once done
Cheers
From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Francis.Hook@gmail.com
Sent: 08 September 2010 15:32
To: mureithi@summitstrategies.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] Might M-Kesho sound the death knell for (some) M-Pesa Agents?
1 - Equity Bank has abt 4.5 million customers.
2 - Lets wager that abt 70-80% are Safaricom subscribers...(3.15 - 3.6 million) and possibly 80% of those use M-Pesa (wild guess)
3 - A Study conducted in late 2009 (http://technology.cgap.org/2009/09/08/understanding-what-drives-profits-for-agents-m-pesa/) examined the factors that make an M-Pesa agent make a profit...as well as the challenges faced by such agents (which would most times lead them to say "hakuna float").
4 - As M-Pesa agents have become more pervasive, their profit margins have become thinner owing to competition (incl ATMs, super markets, etc). This is part of the premise of M-Kesho - to allow such agents to make revenue from additional services like insurance...
5 - M-Kesho essentially removes the need to have CASH transactions - either sending or receiving. However, to the operator the transaction fee still accrues, and to the bank, the deposits remain somewhat stable. If anything, for corporate users of M-Pesa (KQ, KPLC, etc) they can know have their accounts credited directly - no need to use an M-Pesa agent to load cash onto phone and then pay KPLC, Kenya Airways, etc.
6 - Thinking of the three or so million Equity Bank Customers who are M-Pesa users....will they EVER need to use an M-Pesa agent? before the routine to send cash was ...a) draw cash from ATM/Branch b)go to M-Pesa Agent c) send money - and vice versa to receive (go to mpesa agent, get cash, spend/deposit cash) - ergo M-Pesa agent has a role. Of course I admit, such account holders can still withdraw from their accounts using M-Kesho and get cash from an M-Pesa Agent (but I think this would be really really rare).
Will M-Kesho see some rationalisation in the number and size(type) of agents? Admittedly some of the more established agents can evolve into FOSAs for Equity (and other banks), but I think at the grassroots there might be a negative impact.
My two cents...
Francis