just a little post to help those who dont understand the financial importance of telecom within the banking sector
Mpesa has done more for allowing those untied to bank accounts to create a means for capital transfer than bitcoin ever has.
from wikipedia History
In 2002, researchers at Gamos and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, funded by Department for International Development UK (DFID), documented that in Uganda, Botswana and Ghana, people were spontaneously using airtime as a proxy for money transfer.[3] Africans were transferring airtime to their relatives or friends who were then using it or reselling it. Gamos researchers approached MCel [4] in Mozambique, and in 2004 MCel introduced the first authorised airtime credit swapping – a precursor step towards M-Pesa.[5] The idea was discussed by the Commission for Africa[6] and DFID introduced the researchers to Vodafone who had been discussing supporting microfinance and back office banking with Mobile phones. S Batchelor (Gamos) and N Hughes (Vodafone CSR) discussed how a system of money transfer could be created in Kenya. DFID amended the terms of reference for its grant to Vodafone, and piloting began in 2005. In April 2007, following a student software development project from Kenya,[7] Safaricom launched a new mobile phone based payment and money transfer service, known as M-Pesa.[8] The service allows users to deposit money into an account stored on their cell phones, to send balances using SMS technology to other users, including sellers of goods and services, and to redeem deposits for regular money. Users are charged a small fee for sending and withdrawing money using the service.[9] M-Pesa has spread quickly, and by 2010 had become the most successful mobile phone based financial service in the developing world.[8] By 2012, a stock of about 17 million M-Pesa accounts had been registered in Kenya.[1]
The initial work of developing the product was given to a product and technology development company[10] known as Sagentia. Development and second line support responsibilities were transferred to IBM in September 2009, where most of the original Sagentia team transferred to.
i think we need a mobile app
