For the longest time the telecommunication sector had been an absolute let down to most Kenyans. Bureaucracy and corruption in the then Kenya Post and Telecommunication sector stood in the way of those willing to get a simple telephone line. An application to get a telephone line would take up to several months or even years. If you weren’t willing to part with something small, chances are you wouldn’t get a telephone line at all. Broken telephone booths were a common site and those functioning couldn’t quite be relied on.
Then came mobile phones. At first they were regarded as a reserve for the wealthy, but now nearly half the population has a mobile phone. The latest Third Quarter Sector Statistics Report by Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) shows that there were 29.2 million mobile subscribers as of 31st March 2012. Tie that in to the fact that Kenya has a population of 38.7 million, as per the results of from the 2012 census, and you have more than half of the population.
That aside, the mobile phone has indeed been a gadget that has made life friendlier to Kenyans.
Bills Banking and Money Transfer
What had been regarded as a simple telecommunications gadget – yes, those two words have just been used together – has evolved into a device that can be used to send and receive money, both locally and internationally, pay bills anytime, anywhere plus gives you access to your bank account 24/7, saving you the trouble of physically having to go to a bank branch to make a transaction.
M-Pesa was launched in 2007, as posted in thinkm-pesa.com. Within five months of this launch Safaricom had registered over 20,000 M-Pesa customers. Orange, Airtel and Yu Mobile soon unveiled their own mobile money transfer platforms. Since then, mobile money transfer service continued to play a significant role in Kenya. As of 31st March 2012, there were 18,987 million money transfer subscriptions, 45,861 active mobile transfer service agents and a total deposit of KES 185.4 billion handled, in the period between January to March 2012, within the mobile money transfer service.
In addition to sending and receiving money locally, Kenyans in the diaspora (or any other person who isn’t in the country) can send you money directly to your phone, within minutes. This has significantly eliminated the hustle of having to wait for days before you can travel to town, queue at a bank to get money sent to you. You’ll simply get money sent straight to your phone within minutes.
The mobile phone has also made it convenient to pay utility bills. You no longer have to queue to pay your electricity, water or insurance premiums; you can simply settle your bills from the comfort of your home or office, 24/7.
Pension and Queues
With the Mbao Pension Scheme, you can also save up for retirement from the comfort of your mobile phone.
You no longer have to risk sending your kids with cash to pay their school fees, most schools now accept school fees sent through mobile money transfer platforms.
Queuing in Banking halls to make deposits or withdrawals can be a waste of time, unfortunately, ATMs can be let down at times. With mobile banking you can easily move money to and from your bank account. All you need is to have your bank account linked to the mobile money transfer platform you are on. If you are on M-Pesa for instance, you can transfer funds to your bank account conveniently from your phone or with directly from your bank account through your phone, saving you the hustle of having to queue at banking halls.
Hospitals, Medicine and Insurance
The medical sector hasn’t been left behind. Daktari 1524 is a service from Safaricom that enables you to get medical information and advice via your mobile phone 24/7. Service offered to under this program include:
- Medical information
- Reference to a medical expert if necessary
- Information on healthy lifestyles
- First aid guidelines
- Proper use of medication
- Contacting emergency services if necessary
- Location of the nearest health centres nd
- Reassurance
Yu Mobile recently launched an insurance scheme dubbed: yuCover that rewards yuMobile subscribers with a renewable monthly life and disability cover based on the amount of airtime re-charged each month. KES 100 airtime top up in a month could get you KES 10,000 worth of insurance cover while KES 1,000 airtime top up could get you KES 60,000 worth of insurance cover.
Airtel recently announced plans to partner with Sanlam, one of South Africa’s leading financial providers to use its East, West and South African reach to help the insurer distribute its services in the Area. So they’re doing insurance as well.
The mobile has evolved from being a mere communications device to a device that can be used to send and receive money both locally and internationally, a bill payment option and a device that gives you access to insurance cover. 30 years on we look at convenience, a little differently.