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Kenya's mobile revolution and the promise of mobile savings

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Author Info

  • Demombynes, Gabriel
  • Thegeya, Aaron

Abstract

The mobile revolution has transformed the lives of Kenyans, providing not just communications but also basic financial access in the form of phone-based money transfer and storage, led by the M-PESA system introduced in 2007. Currently, 93 percent of Kenyans are mobile phone users and 73 percent are mobile money customers. Additionally, 23 percent use mobile money at least once a day. New potential for mobile money has come with the rise of interest-earning bank-integrated mobile savings systems, beginning with the launch of the M-KESHO system in March 2010. The authors examine the mobile savings phenomenon, using data collected in a special survey in late 2010. They show that the usage of bank-integrated mobile savings systems like M-KESHO remains limited and largely restricted to better-off Kenyans. However, what the authors term"basic mobile savings"-- the use of simple mobile money systems as a repository for funds -- is widespread, including among those who are otherwise unlikely to have any savings. Holding other characteristics constant, those who are registered for M-PESA are 32 percent more likely to report having some savings.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 5988.

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Date of creation: 01 Mar 2012
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5988

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Related research

Keywords: Banks&Banking Reform; Emerging Markets; E-Business; Economic Theory&Research; E-Finance and E-Security;

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  1. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2011. "Mobile Money: The Economics of M-PESA," NBER Working Papers 16721, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Cited by:
  1. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "How has mobile banking stimulated financial development in Africa?," MPRA Paper 38576, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  2. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "New indicators for the mobile banking nexus," MPRA Paper 38575, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "How has Mobile Phone Penetration Stimulated Financial Development in Africa?," MPRA Paper 41198, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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