Subject category:
Strategy and General Management
Published by:
International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
Version: 31.12.2016
Revision date: 3-May-2017
Length: 27 pages
Data source: Field research
Abstract
This case study investigates the phenomenal development of M-PESA in Kenya, the world's most successful mobile phone-based financial service, and the way it transformed its parent company, Safaricom from being an incumbent telecommunications operator to also becoming a digital platform working across different industries and sectors through an extensive business ecosystem. Safaricom, Kenya's incumbent telecom operator, developed M-PESA in partnership with Vodafone. The service was launched in March 2007 and has since been used by more than 23 million people in Kenya! It started off as a mere person-to-person remittance service and now provides a wide array of financial services for retail customers, businesses and government. Nearly a decade after its launch, M-PESA has drastically transformed the daily life of its users as well as Kenya's economic landscape, where it impacted the banking and telecom landscape, boosted the development of e-commerce and facilitated operations for thousands of small businesses, online and offline. Internationally, M-PESA has become a role model for mobile financial services and payment platforms as well as inclusive business practices.
Industries:
Size:
4,000 employees, largest firm in Kenya by profit (USD372 M. in 2016)
About
Abstract
This case study investigates the phenomenal development of M-PESA in Kenya, the world's most successful mobile phone-based financial service, and the way it transformed its parent company, Safaricom from being an incumbent telecommunications operator to also becoming a digital platform working across different industries and sectors through an extensive business ecosystem. Safaricom, Kenya's incumbent telecom operator, developed M-PESA in partnership with Vodafone. The service was launched in March 2007 and has since been used by more than 23 million people in Kenya! It started off as a mere person-to-person remittance service and now provides a wide array of financial services for retail customers, businesses and government. Nearly a decade after its launch, M-PESA has drastically transformed the daily life of its users as well as Kenya's economic landscape, where it impacted the banking and telecom landscape, boosted the development of e-commerce and facilitated operations for thousands of small businesses, online and offline. Internationally, M-PESA has become a role model for mobile financial services and payment platforms as well as inclusive business practices.
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Industries:
Size:
4,000 employees, largest firm in Kenya by profit (USD372 M. in 2016)