Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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Mobile money as a strategy for financial inclusion in rural communities
(2014) Thulani; Chitakunye, P; Chummun, BZ
This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the usage level of mobile money, and how it has accelerated financial inclusion among the rural communities in an emerging economy such as Zimbabwe. The study employed a mixed methods approach and a concurrent dominant status design where quantitative and qualitative approaches were concurrently used with the quantitative approach having a dominant status. The study was carried out in the Midlands Province and a simple random sampling technique was applied to select the province. Eight districts in the province formed the study population of 262 493 households and a pilot sample size of 37 household was chosen. The study used a survey method to collect data, where a questionnaire and focus group discussions were used as the main data collection instruments. It emerged that the usage of mobile money by the unbanked rural people is very high, especially for sending and receiving remittances. However the saving and loan aspect of mobile money were not very popular. Users were still relying on their traditional methods of savings and borrowing. The implications are that the service providers need to increase their awareness programs targeting this specific market to encourage them to migrate from traditional ways to safe and secure way of saving their meagre income. More so, that their saving patterns will determine their access to loans.
Impact assessment of mobile money systems on the informal taxi sector in Cape Town
(2014-01-21) Phillipus, Ahlben
Context The purpose of this research was to assess the potential impact of MTN MobileMoney and Vodacom M-Pesa services on the informal taxi sector in Cape Town, South Africa. The research intended to assess whether there was any impact of MTN MobileMoney and Vodacom M-Pesa mobile money systems on the informal taxi sector, as well as to determine the effect on business in relation to the role of banking in business. The method of data collection A questionnaire administered to respondents in the informal taxi sector in Cape Town, was used as a basis for the study. The sample comprised of twenty-five respondents and each respondent was requested to answer questions based on their current business operation, the banking practice used and opinions related to the use of MTN MobileMoney and Vodacom M-Pesa mobile money systems within their business. Key Findings MTN MobileMoney as well as Vodacom M-Pesa mobile money systems have had a small conceivably insignificant impact on the informal taxi sector. There is limited transfer of money between users in exchange for goods or services, as identified through the research conducted within the informal taxi industry. From evidence gathered and observations noted it can be concluded that MTN MobileMoney and Vodacom M-Pesa mobile money systems are too costly for the consumer to transact on a frequent basis and on small payment values. However mobile money is willingly accepted as forms of payment for a taxi fare, by the taxi owner, although once received the taxi owner in receipt of the funds predominantly transfers money between users who have relations with each other as well as purchasing airtime. vi Key Message There is willingness to accept MTN MobileMoney and Vodacom M-Pesa as forms of payment and thus mobile telephony companies should continue to find new and innovative ways to turn the mobile phone into a tool for accessing basic banking services. The banking industry will certainly need an improved understanding of people’s needs, current adoption and usage patterns of the informal taxi sector and develop products or mobile payment systems that engage with and meets the informal taxi sector’s needs. Mobile money systems could provide a platform that could potentially be leveraged to service the financial needs of the informal taxi sector. In addition considering that two million passengers in within Cape Town and sixteen million passengers within South Africa use the taxi industry daily, if successful it has the ability to enable and catalyse the development of mobile commerce across multiple sectors for both the high income earners as well as the bottom of the pyramid

Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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