We’ve already talked about M-Pesa mobile payments service in the past and today we’re glad to report that users dig it, big time. As a matter of fact, M-Pesa Kenya currently exceeds transactions made by Western Union globally, according the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report. What’s more, the service now provides mobile banking facilities to more than 70% of the country’s adult population. In other words, more than 14 million people are now using M-Pesa, making it the world’s most successful mobile payments system!
As a testament to its popularity, millions of Kenyans used the service to fight hunger in the country. Through the “Kenyans for Kenya” campaign, small donations as low as 10 cents were made by citizens with the goal to raise about $5 million in one month. The goal was reached in only two weeks, and as of September 2011, the campaign had raised about $6.7 million.
The success was caught by the World Bank which has since picked former Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph to spearhead the expansion of mobile money transfers in its member states. Awesome!
[Via: thenextweb]