Corporate News
Michael Joseph, the Vodafone director for mobile money said company
plans to bring more agents on board to boost M-Pesa subscribers in South
Arica. PHOTO | FILE
By MUGAMBI MUTEGI
In Summary
- M-Pesa has only gained 1.2 million South African subscribers since its 2010 launch.
- The firm has now eased the signing-up process allowing new subscribers to register through their cell phones without having to visit an agent.
- Michael Joseph previously told Business Daily that the service failed take off in South Africa partly because many people in the country prefer using debit and credit cards to transact.
South Africa’s
telecommunications firm Vodafone has eased registration requirements
for M-Pesa, in yet another attempt at reviving the mobile money service
that has struggled since its introduction in the country four years ago.
Former Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph, who was instrumental in
popularising the mobile phone-based payments service in Kenya, is
involved in the latest re-launch of M-Pesa in South Africa.
M-Pesa has only gained 1.2 million South African subscribers since its 2010 launch.
It has now eased the signing-up process allowing
new subscribers to register through their cell phones without having to
visit an agent.
South Africa’s Vodafone, which is majority-owned by
UK-based Vodafone, the owner of the M-Pesa concept, has also partnered
with Visa to supply its M-Pesa customers with debit cards that can be
used to withdraw money where agents are not present.
Mr Joseph, the Vodafone director for mobile money,
has previously said these changes will help adapt M-Pesa with the “First
World” market of South Africa where credit card use and inadequate
agency network have worked against it.
“We have worked hard to learn from our experience
with the service so far, and have come back with something that we think
is truly compelling,” Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said in a
statement.
“Customers can now self-register using their mobile
phone. Previously, customers had to take their phone and ID to a
physical outlet, making it less convenient to sign up.”
Safaricom introduced M-Pesa in Kenya in March 2007
to immediate success with the company’s latest financial statements
indicating it earned Sh26.5 billion in revenue from the service last
year.
The mobile firm currently has about 19.3 million registered users, a far cry from South Africa’s 1.2 million.
Mr Joseph previously told Business Daily that
the service failed take off in South Africa partly because many people
in the country prefer using debit and credit cards to transact.
Also, Vodafone started off with a distribution
network of about 1,000 outlets which, compared to Safaricom’s 81,025
agents, greatly limited the scope of their business.
“We plan to bring more agents on board through
mostly though spaza shops (informal kiosks, pharmacies and more
supermarkets in a fashion similar to Kenya,” Mr Joseph told Business Daily during the planning stage late last year.
It has already partnered with a total of 8,000
outlets by the time of the re-launch, with plans to increase this number
to 30,000 by the end of the year.
“It is not good enough to have an agent at the nearest big town or at a handful of big retail outlets,’ said Mr Joosub.
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