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While Japan has been using NFC technology to enable mobile payments for years now, the rest of the world has been lagging in terms of mobile payments. Europe, the continent that was the first to launch GSM technology on a massive scale, still hasn’t figured out mobile payments. Premium SMS doesn’t count since it is mostly used to buy annoying ringtones and wallpapers from even more annoying commercials that play around midnight on weekdays. America, land of the consumer whores, still hasn’t figured out how to make the connected device inside millions of people’s pockets into a cash machine. It is Africa, a continent battling AIDS, power outages, contaminated water, and who knows what else, that is leading the way with M-Pesa.
You realize that these people don’t have the iPhone, or some fancy Nokia smartphone, they all use el cheapo handsets to send specially formatted text messages to handle payments. SMS is driving the mobile transactions in Africa, and I’m frankly jealous. In Africa people use M-Pesa for food, electricity, and now according to Daily Nation East African, Air Kenya and Aircraft Leasing Services are letting you pay for your airfare via SMS, Rift Valley Railways is letting you pay for your train ticket via SMS, and Akamba, Crown Bus and Busways are letting you pay for your bus ticket via SMS. When is Nokia Money going to launch around the world and let me pay for the daily lunch I have at my local Thai place via SMS, or a drink in a club on a Saturday night via SMS?
Stunned. Absolutely stunned. Go Africa!
[Via: Textually]
[Photo from Wikimedia]
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
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