Kenya's Mobile Revolution and the Promise of Mobile Savings
Open accessAbstract
The mobile revolution has transformed the lives of Kenyans, providing not just communications but also basic financial access in the form of phone-based money transfer and storage, led by the M-PESA system introduced in 2007. Currently, 93 percent of Kenyans are mobile phone users and 73 percent are mobile money customers. Additionally, 23 percent use mobile money at least once a day. New potential for mobile money has come with the rise of interest-earning bank-integrated mobile savings systems, beginning with the launch of the M-KESHO system in March 2010. The authors examine the mobile savings phenomenon, using data collected in a special survey in late 2010. They show that the usage of bank-integrated mobile savings systems like M-KESHO remains limited and largely restricted to better-off Kenyans. However, what the authors term"basic mobile savings"-- the use of simple mobile money systems as a repository for funds -- is widespread, including among those who are otherwise unlikely to have any savings. Holding other characteristics constant, those who are registered for M-PESA are 32 percent more likely to report having some savings.
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With increased growth of ICT and mobile devices to the entire population, Kenya is likely to experience escalation of eHealth solutions.
“With the increased growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and mobile devices to the entire population [8, 53], the country is likely to experience escalation of eHealth solutions.”
From Assessing the feasibility of eHealth and mHealth: a systematic review and analysis of initiatives implemented in Kenya (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
Cites
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THE ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR MOBILE BANKING IN AFRICA
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Mobile Phones and Economic Development in AfricaPreprint
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Njoroge, M., Zurovac, D., Ogara, E. A. A., Chuma, J., & Kirigia, D. (2017) · BMC Research Notes · doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2416-0 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
- Authors
- Demombynes, G., & Thegeya, A.
- Affiliations
- World Bank (US)
- ORCID
- Demombynes, Gabriel
- Publisher
- World Bank
- Published
- 2012-03-01
- OpenAlex
- W2161999507
- Cited by
- 181
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 2
- Type
- report
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- papers.ssrn.com
- Locations
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
- The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (World Bank) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Microfinance and Financial Inclusion
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Economic Growth and Development
- Keywords
- mobile money, M-Pesa, financial inclusion, saving behavior, Kenya, mobile money adoption
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