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The Future of Money Discovered in Kenya

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On a recent episode of 60 Minutes titled “The Future of Money,” Leslie Stahl (@LeslieStahl) visits business owners and a taxi driver in a place you wouldn’t necessarily connect with high-tech: Kenya. The trend to turn our smartphones into digital wallets is what tech giants such as Google, PayPal and Facebook are currently dishing out, but In Kenya, it has been going on for years now.

The Future of Money Discovered in Kenya

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On a recent episode of 60 Minutes titled “The Future of Money,” Leslie Stahl (@LeslieStahl) visits business owners and a taxi driver in a place you wouldn’t necessarily connect with high-tech: Kenya. The trend to turn our smartphones into digital wallets is what tech giants such as Google, PayPal and Facebook are currently dishing out, but In Kenya, it has been going on for years now.  

Working in tech in San Francisco, I hear about many different applications or devices that will be the next big thing, so it’s refreshing to hear about Safaricom’s technology and how it’s helping Kenyans gain access to money.

The problem was a lack of banks for people. Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, sought to solve that problem. While most Kenyans don’t have access to a bank account, they do have access to a cell phone.

“So in 2007, Safaricom started offering a way to use that cell phone to send and receive cash. They call it M-PESA: m stands for "mobile;" "pesa" is money in Swahili.”

Oftentimes referred to as Kenya’s alternative currency, mobile payments are safer and more secure than cash and allow transactions in the most remote locations. The options include:

  • Send money
  • Withdraw cash
  • Pay a bill
  • Buy goods and services

It’s different from phone payments made in the U.S. because the phones aren’t linked to any bank account or credit card -- the phone is it. All you need is a pin number to buy or sell.

Back to the adventure on a dirt road in Kenya: Stahl jumps into a taxi with a driver called Daniel for her first M-PESA experience. He’s a likeable guy, very funny and guides her to make her first successful payment. Next she meets Anji, a shop owner who says the technology is like having a bank in her pocket. Stahl has a much easier time clicking on her phone and paying for a colorful knit bag on her second try.

From enabling business transactions to providing much needed electricity and running water, Collymore’s vision to give Kenyans access to money was as simple as making their cell phones like a “bank in my pocket.”

Whenever pondering on what your marketplace will look like, it’s always good to consider how it will help people have access to resources we often take for granted in the Western world. Proof once again that technology, although sometimes criticized for making us indifferent and disconnected, can actually connect people to something as basic as money.

Read source article here

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