It has been close to eight years since Michael Joseph, former Chief Executive of Vodafone Kenya (Safaricom) swept the entire African continent with the Mobile money platform, M-PESA.
This seeming little piece of innovation eventually held the world spellbound and sparked a mini-revolution that has never before been heralded across the globe.
Since then, the M-PESA platform has acquired nearly 17million active customers and as many as 186,000 agents worldwide. A total of more than US$1.1 billion worth of person-to-person transactions are made on a monthly basis. Residents in Kenya and some parts of East and Southern African are now able, with just a click of a button, to transfer cash instantly to their family and friends without the need for a bank account or long distance traveling.
Within five years, M-PESA has contributed almost 20% of Safaricom’s total revenue and has been rolled out in Egypt, Lesotho and Mozambique, before first venturing outside Africa into India and Romania.
Now this powerful tool of transformation is here in Ghana courtesy of Vodafone.
The Mobile Money concept in Ghana, despite its introduction in 2009, has still got a long way to go in living up to expectation – the primary reason being the lack of efficient user experience.
Awareness levels are high for the service across the country but there still remains the need for significant inroads to be made if the concept is to become an integral part of the Ghanaian economic journey. That notwithstanding, there exists a huge appetite for the platform in Ghana and majority of the Ghanaian population remain open to a service that can deliver the best and convenient user experience and reliability.
A Harvard Business report has highlighted three distinct factors for mobile money to thrive anywhere, especially in Africa – financial inclusion, lowering the cost and risk of retail and the introduction of cashless policies from regulators. Lowe consumer confidence in traditional financial institutions also makes this an opportune moment for new players to enter the solution space. And Vodafone Ghana looks poised to present a game-changer proposition in this sector.
At a time when Vodafone has been credited with being the Best Network in Voice clarity and 3G internet speed in Ghana, backed by an over US$700m investment in its systems infrastructure, the telecoms company is ready to use this expertise to perfection in ensuring that its product becomes a benchmark across the country.
Ghana’s financial services sector is still a long way off in reaching the majority of the non-bankable population; hence, the activities of mobile money are being seen as one sure way of moving the non-banked into mainstream financial services.
Commenting on the product, Haris Broumidis, Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana said:
“It is out of a yearning for a more and credible avenue to attain freedom that Vodafone Ghana has introduced its “Vodafone Cash” platform in Ghana. Thriving on a network with a global reputation for delivering the best and convenient user experience and reliability, Vodafone Cash, is certainly a step up from the competition.”
The introduction of Vodafone Cash has undoubtedly brought a much needed excitement in the market. For now, a new phase of growth and maturity has commenced for the country’s second largest mobile telecommunications company. With a reputation for being the leader in innovation and creativity, Vodafone Ghana is looking to build on these traits; create a platform that is credible, reliable and above all, one that can be trusted.
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Source: Vodafone Ghana