Frugal financial innovations for inclusive finance: the experience with customer care at M-Pesa in Kenya

Abstract

A well-functioning and inclusive financial sector in developing countries is important for economic development. A mobile payment revolution has been taking place in Africa and allows frugal financial innovations for inclusive finance. This paper looks at the experience of M-Pesa in Kenya and in particular how they deal with customer care. Not enough use is made of the field agents and of customer segmentation (the low-income customers in particular deserve more attention), while customer care and operations can also be improved. Suggestions are made for how to do so and conclusions drawn about the strong points of this potentially frugal financial innovation. M-Pesa is helping people to become ‘financially included’ and tries to learn from customer satisfaction research.