Mobile Money Services Research Articles

EFFECT OF MOBILE MONEY ON THE SAVING BEHAVIOR OF LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLD: EVIDENCES FROM DINAJPUR DISTRICT OF BANGLADESH

Mobile money is now extensively acknowledged in Bangladesh. This study tries to explore the ultimate effect of the mobile money use on the saving behavior in the rural low income households. For this purpose, this study applies cross sectional data of 200 samples. The data is collected from direct interview using simple random sampling in the sadar upazila of Dinajpur district. Logistic model and the two stage least square model are applied to identify the factors and effect of mobile money adoption on the saving behavior. The findings reveal that mobile money service adopters have higher degree of propensity to save compared to the non adopters. It also notifies that mobile money service adopter has 2 times higher propensity to save than non adopters. Moreover, rural residents have also higher propensity to save compared to the urban. This study suggests the mobile money services should be properly managed to stable financial inclusion in accordance with income groups, regional and social diversity. This may also helps to reduce the differences among the rural- urban and different income groups also by moving towards achieving sustainable goals.

Geographies of Monetary Exclusion in Kenyan Slums: Financial Inclusion in Question

ABSTRACTFinancial inclusion has become a prominent development policy objective. Its promotion rests on the understanding that poverty and underdevelopment mainly result from financial constraints that individuals face. Better access to financial services, in particular via the use of mobile money services, is supposed to lift these constraints and allow for growth and development. After outlining this dominant approach and detailing its theory of change, this article challenges it on the basis of the mesoeconomic study (at territorial level) of areas particularly targeted by financial inclusion policies: Kenyan informal settlements. The study of their geography of money shows how the socio‐spatial flows of money shape people's economic constraints and opportunities. Based on this empirical account, it is argued that the poor are, first and foremost, in a situation of monetary exclusion, rather than being primarily financially constrained. The article conceptualizes monetary exclusion and highlights the theory and policy implications of this situation.

Tax revenue and mobile money in developing countries

This paper analyzes the effect of mobile money adoption on tax revenue performance in a large sample of 104 developing countries over the period 1990–2019. Estimations, based on the entropy balancing method, show that mobile money significantly increases tax revenue in mobile money countries relative to non-mobile money countries. This result remains robust to various robustness tests and may depend on time perspective, the type of mobile money service, and some structural factors, including a country's level of development, corruption level, rural population size, inflation rate, education level, tax revenue sample 25th percentile and average, revenue administration efficiency, and mature markets. A first level of disaggregation of tax revenue into direct and indirect tax revenue shows that mobile money increases both types of tax revenue, with a larger impact on direct tax revenue. A second level of disaggregation of these two components into different sub-categories shows that the effect on direct tax revenue is driven by personal income tax revenue and corporate income tax revenue and that on indirect tax revenue is determined by taxes on goods and services. Finally, a broadening tax base (proxied by GDP per capita), better institutional quality, and tax payment process simplification are the main channels through which mobile money adoption increases tax performance in developing countries.

Mobile money as a driver of digital financial inclusion

Meeting the mobile money needs of the less privileged in developing and emerging markets opens up enormous possibilities for banks and newly emerged financial-technology firms. Many consider mobile money services a separate domain within the banking and payment sector, different from its siblings: automated teller machines, net banking, point-of-sale banking, etc. This study was conducted to investigate how mobile money services act as a reliable driver of digital financial inclusion and to determine the role of mobile money agents in the transformation from the traditional services to mobile money services. This paper presents a conceptual model based on the stimulus-organism-response paradigm. We propose that the mobile money agent characteristics are the stimuli, that the mobile money customer is the organism, and that the response of the organism to the stimuli is continuous usage, which leads to financial inclusion in the developing country of Ghana. The continuous usage of mobile money services by customers encourages more engagement experiences and advocacy intentions. We provide empirical evidence suggesting that mobile money agent credibility and service quality stimulate customer empowerment. Furthermore, we argue that for the less financially empowered customer segment, mobile money agent credibility provides the needed impetus for the continuous usage of mobile money services.

An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Mobile Money Services on the Growth of Micro-Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Bosaso

The purpose of this exploratory study is to seek information on the effect of Mobile Money Services (MMS) dynamics on the growth of Micro-Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. (MSMEs) The available studies provide limited information on the subject, regarding the growth of micro-small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in Bosaso municipality, Puntland Somalia. The study is guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to arrive at some of the factors affecting the growth of micro small and medium-sized enterprises. The study is based on a case study carried out using quasi-structured interviews, observation and documentation. The data was collected from a sample of 34 participants. The information gathered indicated that usefulness, social influence, accessibility, cost, enabling environment and trust aspects were linked to behavioural intention to utilise mobile money service, which has the potential to lead to the growth of micro-small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, it was learned that though mobile money service technology is new in the market, but the rate at which it is being adopted is on upward trajectory. Moreover, most of the participants possessed smartphones and they were already utilizing them to conduct their business transactions. The article presents information collected through the administration of interviews, observation and documentation. The findings potentially increase awareness of mobile money technology among MSMEs, policymakers, financial institutions, academicians and researchers. Thus, the overall growth of MSMEs.

The contribution of government policy and financial security control in Ghana’s mobile money services

The study looked at how government policies and financial security affect the use of mobile money services. A mixed method was used, with a focus group and survey questionnaires administered. Data was collected from 2041 mobile money users were collected and analyzed using SmartPLS based on the TAM model. Government policy and financial security have impacted users’ decisions to adopt mobile money services in Ghana. Perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness, have influenced users’ attitudes to adopt mobile money. Again, behavioural intention to use mobile money is directly influenced by user’s attitude. Also, TAM theory has shown to be robust in analyzing affective, cognitive and behavioural issues. The findings will encourage the Ghanaian government, through its agencies, to continue with policies to improve mobile money services. This also demonstrates that citizens will support government policy related to mobile money as long as it is intended to improve the industry. Finally, mobile money services allow the development of the Ghanaian economy’s formal and informal sectors.

Safaricom Limited’s Mobile Money Services and Access to Trade Credit by Microenterprises in Nairobi City County Kenya

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of mobile money services on access to trade credit by microenterprises in Kamukunji market, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were; to assess whether digital payment-buy goods application (till number), saving and loan product (mshwari), mpesa for business application, pochi la biashara application have influence on access to trade credit by microenterprises in Kamukunji market. The study was guided by; Technology Acceptance theory, Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of technology, Diffusion innovation Theory and Technology, organization and Environment theory. The study employed a descriptive research approach and targeted 4,080 registered microenterprises in Kamukunji Market, Nairobi City County as per the City County Business Register of 2021. The sample size of the study was 351 microenterprises. A self-administered questionnaire was employed for the study's primary data. Data analysis was aided by SPSS using both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results were displayed through tables and charts. The findings demonstrated that, savings and loan service, digital payment service, mpesa for business and pochi la biashara jointly explained 82 percent of the variation in access to trade credit among businesses in Kamukunji market. The study also established positive and significant relationship between all the independent variables and access to trade credit among businesses in Kamukunji market. The study concludes that Safaricom Ltd mobile money services have significant effect on access to trade credit by microenterprises in Kamukunji market, Nairobi City County Kenya. The study thus recommends that businesses in Kamukunji County and other microenterprises in other counties should strive to embrace Safaricom Ltd mobile money services such as savings and loan service, digital payment, mpesa for business, pochi la biashara since they enhance access to trade credit for the businesses. There is need to do further studies in area related to cost of accessing trade credit under the fintech firms and huge data available for assessing creditworthiness of borrowers. Keywords: Mobile Money Services, Savings and loan, Digital payment, Mpesa for business, Pochi la biashara.

Mobile money, family assistance and welfare in Cameroon

This paper aims to investigate the effect of mobile money services on the welfare in Cameroon. It specifically verifies whether the welfare of people benefiting from family assistance is improved via the mobile money services offered by the two main operators in the country, namely: Orange and Mtn. The data used come from the « FinScope Consommateur Cameroun » Survey carried out in 2017 by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Based on the propensity scores estimations, this study shows a positive and significant effect of mobile money on welfare. However, among the operators, Orange has a better impact compared to Mtn which does not present a significant effect. These results call on the authorities in charge of the development and implementation of financial inclusion policies to recognize the interest of digital financial services at the heart of financial inclusion strategies for the welfare of the poor.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Mobile Money Services in Zambia: Case of Central Bank of Zambia

Mobile money services has technologically advanced with an increase in popular usage in Africa and the rest of the world. The advancement in technology has birthed mobile money which is a new and popular service in Zambia. This study was a cross sectional study conducted to determine the influences of consumer adoption of the service. This study used a mixed research design involving both qualitative and quantitative methods (Saunders et al, 2016). The qualitative method was used to provide an explanation of various variables while the quantitative approach was used to quantify incidences in order to describe current perceptions as regards the factors influencing the adoption of mobile services. This enabled the researcher to gain in-depth information that would be used to find solutions for the research questions of the study. Purposive sampling techniques was employed to select respondents to select a sample size of 100. It is a conclusion emanating from this study that the majority of the respondent’s number of customers believed mobile money service by network operators was less costly than traditional banking and this influenced their adoption. As electronic money transfer service by network operators is becoming more prevalent, so is the level of customer service delivery thus the level of customer adoption of the service is increasing as the service is perceived not only to be convenient but a low cost service. The study recommended that Mobile network operator’s staff and officials should be adequately trained in e-banking products and services to be able to address customers’ needs and challenges. Furthermore, the network providers need to effectively package their products to ensure increased use of the service. Products and services to customers to close the seemingly knowledge gap that exists among the populace with regard to the benefits that can be derived from mobile money services. Such innovation now includes small loans which consumers can access and repay within a chosen time period.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Mobile Money Services in Zambia: Case of Central Bank of Zambia

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Mobile Money Services in Zambia: Case of Central Bank of Zambia

An Assessment of The Effect of Mobile Money Services on The Profitability of The Banking Sector in Zambia

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of mobile money services on Zambia’s banking sector profitability. Profitability was proxied by Return on equity (ROE) and Gross interest income (GII). Using the Johansen Cointegration approach on quarterly data for the period 2012Q1 to 2021Q4, the results suggest a positive relationship between mobile money services and commercial banks’ profitability. Based on the results, the study recommends that there is need for commercial banks to continuously align their operational models with emergent innovative services in the sector while also appealing to regulators to collectively design regulatory frameworks that are responsive to developing sector trends.

A Conceptual Model to Determine Factors Influencing Mobile Money Banking Adoption in Ghana

The growth of mobile money service in Ghana has been attributed to many other factors outside the spectrum of technology. The research focus is to determine the factors influencing mobile money service from the point of technology. The study analysis was based on Structural Equation Modelling of Partial Least Squares using SmartPLS. It was determined that, the following construct, perceived risk, perceived cost, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, compatibility, relative advantage, observability, trialability, and social influence with (p < 0.001) influenced users in adopting mobile money banking in Ghana. The research finding will enable stakeholders related to the mobile money industry to strengthen its gains and sustain its growth in mobile money services. The research present the information technology factors that influence the adoption of mobile money and how these factors should be factored into the development of the mobile money industry. The research also gives industry players the systematic factors they could rely on when making any decision toward user acceptance of mobile money.

User Intensions towards Mobile Money Service Adoption in Ethiopia

In recent times, mobile money services have become a fashioned services following to the rapid development of mobile technologies and increasing demand for cashless business transactions. Such demand has also ushered a new era to the banking industry and bank users. However, the bank users’ intensions to adopt the services, particularly in Ethiopia, were not studied yet. To fill this study gap, data was collected from 384 users of banks branching in Addis Ababa and analyzed by integrating the modified extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and with the structural equation model. According to the path analysis, the study found performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitation conditions (infrastructure), hedonic motivation and price value to be a positive and strong predictor of the bank user’s behavioral intension to adopt the mobile money services followed by the exogenous predictors such as perceived security and trust on the technology. Another interesting finding is that the users’ behavioral intention to adopt such services is significantly transformed in to actual behavior. But, none of the moderating variables have significant effect on the users’ behavioral intension to adopt the services and they are excluded from the path. Based on the finding, the study advices the mobile money service providers to use an aggressive approach to strengthen positive trust drivers, eliminate insecurity dimensions, and design aesthetically appealing services with a state-of-the-art technology which have multi-purpose operational interfaces. Keywords: Mobile money, UTAUT2, Users intension, Banking in Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/IKM/12-5-01 Publication date: September 30 th 2022

Mobile Money Adoption in Africa: A Literature-Based Analysis

The study sought to assess the factors that influence the adoption of mobile money banking and financial services in Africa. Despite the growth in the mobile money industry and its potential for the future, studies suggest that mobile money banking/financial services adoption remains low across sub-Saharan Africa. This research work employed a systematic literature review methodology, specifically, a literature-based analysis for the investigation. The researcher, for the purposes of this study, identified, selected, and critically reviewed only secondary data, which refers to data that has already been collected for some other. Twenty (20) recent articles on mobile money banking/financial services and external/internal factors, modeled by various theories concerning technology/innovation adoption, were gathered from highly recognized and profiled research databases, including Google Scholar, Research Gate, Emerald (database), Elsevier (database), Pro-quest, Scopus, and Springer. From the 20 articles reviewed, analyzed, and discussed, the number of external factors that influence mobile money adoption positively or negatively is twenty (20), while the count of internal factors that influence mobile money adoption positively or negatively is eight (8). In conclusion, the external factors outnumber the internal factors, but the internal factors are more grievous and have a significant impact on the mobile money service. The results of this research work also revealed the top five external factors researchers seem to encounter in their studies. The study provides significant insight into both external and internal factors affecting the adoption of mobile money services in Africa. Keywords: Africa, Databases, Mobile Money Banking/Financial services, Systematic.

Cyber Security Challenges, its Emerging Trends on Latest Information and Communication Technology and Cyber Crime in Mobile Money Transaction Services

This paper investigates the challenges emerging trends on latest Information and Communication Technology and cybercrime in mobile money transaction services in Tanzania. The objective of this is to evaluate the challenges associated with this rapid growth in ICT and to determine factors influencing Cybersecurity readiness and Cybercrimes in mobile money transaction services. Cyber Security plays a significant role in the field of Information and Communication Technology especially on mobile money transaction services. The study recognizes the provision of mobile money services by both telecommunication companies and local banks, the fact is that whenever we think about the cyber security, the first thing that comes to our mind is “cybercrimes” which are increasing extremely day to day and become a threat. Cybercrimes are mostly practiced through both internet and mobile money services. Securing the information has become one of the major challenges in the present day. Various Governments and companies are taking measures in order to prevent these cybercrimes. Besides cyber security remains concern to many. This paper mainly focuses on challenges faced by cyber security on the latest information and communication technology and cybercrime especially in mobile money transaction services in Tanzania. Its latest techniques, ethics and trends that change the face of cyber security. Relevant data was collected from the Forensic Section of the Tanzania Police Force, Mobile banking mobile money agents and users of the mobile-money services. This study also used the Pearson correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to establish different facts and determine whether the independent variables had a combined effect on the dependent variable. The findings of the study revealed that there is a positive and significant correlation between users’ awareness, mobile money agents training, top management support, technical and logical controls and cybersecurity readiness. The study also concluded that effective training programs aimed to enlighten the users and mobile money agents on cybersecurity issues are an important ingredient for cybersecurity readiness in cybercrime in mobile money transaction services.

Investigating the Dynamic Relationship Between Social Distancing Restrictions and the Adoption of Mobile Money Services in the Middle East: A Panel Data Analysis

This article aims to investigate how social distancing restrictions can be a potential factor to effect on the adoption of mobile money services (MMS) using panel data from seven countries in the Middle East (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Palestinian territories, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) during the period from January to December 2020. Employing panel data analysis, the author uses various measures from the global mobile money dataset GSMA and Google Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Community Mobility Reports. The findings reveal that the social distancing restrictions have begun to play an essential part in the shift to cashless payment due to the epidemic and influence the adoption and use of MMS. The results also suggest that the social distancing restrictions affect consumer adoption of MMS and indirectly affect retailers. Unlike prevailing studies, this study is unique in empirically investigating the association between COVID-19 community mobility and MMS adoption. This study contributes to financial studies on MMS adoption under extreme settings.

Heuristic Evaluation and Usability Testing of G-MoMo Applications

Financial technology (FinTech) has swiftly revolutionized mobile money as one of the ways of accessing financial services in developing countries. Numerous mobile money applications were developed to access mobile money services but are hindered by severe authentication security challenges, thus, forcing the researchers to design a secure multi-factor authentication (MFA) algorithm for mobile money applications. Three prototypes of native mobile money applications (G-MoMo applications) were developed to confirm that the algorithm provides high security and is feasible. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the usability of the G-MoMo applications using heuristic evaluation and usability testing to identify potential usability issues and provide recommendations for improvement. Heuristic evaluation and usability testing methods were used to evaluate the G-MoMo applications. The heuristic evaluation was carried out by five experts that used the 10 principles proposed by Jakob Nielsen with a five-point severity rating scale to identify the usability problems. While the usability testing was conducted with forty participants selected using a purposive sampling method to validate the usability of the G-MoMo applications by performing tasks and filling out the post-test questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed in RStudio software. Sixty-three usability issues were identified during heuristic evaluation, where 33 were minor and 30 were major. The most violated heuristic items were “help and documentation”, and “user control and freedom”, while the least violated heuristic items were “aesthetic and minimalist design” and “visibility of system status”. The usability testing findings revealed that the G-MoMo applications’ performance proved good in learnability, effectiveness, efficiency, memorability, and errors. It also provided user satisfaction, ease of use, aesthetics, usefulness, integration, and understandability. Therefore, it was highly recommended that the developers of G-MoMo applications fix the identified usability problems to make the applications more reliable and increase overall user satisfaction.

Analysis of the socio-economic determinants of mobile money adoption and use in Cameroon

This study analyses the adoption and use of mobile money (MM) services based on data collected on 1000 households from the Global Findex Survey conducted in 2017 in Cameroon, by the World Bank. More specifically, this study attempts to first profile MM adopters, and then identify the explanatory factors of the different uses of these services. A Probit model is used to highlight the explanatory factors of MM adoption combined with multivariate regressions to identify the determinants of MM service use. Then, estimates of three independent Probits, under the assumption of non-simultaneity of the different uses of MM services are done to test the reliability and robustness of the results. The results reveal that socio-economic factors such as age, level of education, the standard of living and mobile phone ownership differentially affect both the adoption and use of MM services in Cameroon.

Psychosocial factors that contribute to the adoption of mobile money services by customers: Case of the market of mobile operators in Dakar

Le mobile money représente, pour les entreprises de service en l’occurrence les opérateurs de télécommunication, une innovation incrémentale de service accessible à tous les individus via le téléphone portable. Ressortir les facteurs explicatifs de son adoption par les clients répond aux préoccupations des offreurs de services financiers mobiles, en particulier celles des opérateurs de téléphonie mobile qui ambitionnent de développer leur portefeuille clients. Au plan individuel, la théorie unifiée d’acceptation et d’utilisation de la technologie (UTAUT) a été mobilisée dans différents contextes pour prédire le comportement d’adoption d’une innovation. Grâce à une approche méthodologique mixte et à l’échantillonnage de commodité, une étude qualitative de type semi-structuré suivant une analyse de contenu thématique a été effectuée d’une part, et d’autre part un questionnaire conçu à base de Likert à 5 points a été réalisé sur un échantillon de 251 clients utilisateurs. Les résultats révèlent que, l’intention des clients à utiliser les services s’explique par la testabilité et l’utilité perçue. Quant à l’analyse de la régression logistique, les résultats montrent, d’une part, que l’offre des services du mobile money est à faible coût et d’autre part que l’intention d’utilisation et la commodité constituent les facteurs qui expliquent l’adoption des services du mobile money . Aussi, les autorités monétaires et de régulation devraient accélérer la mise en œuvre du projet d’interopérabilité afin de faciliter l’exécution des transactions financières entre les clients appartenant à différentes banques et opérateurs mobiles.

Mobile Money and Sustainability of Registered Commercial Banks in Kenya

The rapid growth of Fintech products has resulted in the development of mobile money services (MMS) offered by telecommunication companies. The MMS offers services that were initially offered by commercial banks, thus posing a threat to their operational sustainability. Commercial banks globally have started showing some signs of distress, and this ought to be examined because of their crucial roles in the economy. This study is aimed at examining how MMS influenced the long-term financial and operational sustainability of a bank in Kenya. The target population of this study were bank employees from Kenya registered banks. The targeted five seniors’ officials in each bank, making a total target population of 210 respondents. A sample of 120 respondents was randomly selected from the target population. Questionnaires were used as the primary method of data collection. The study findings revealed that mobile money had a negative insignificant impact on banks' sustainability. It was concluded that mobile money did not have a significant influence on the sustainability of commercial banks in Kenya. Based on the research findings, it was recommended that the bank. However, it was recommended that banks should be more innovative to improve their operational efficiency. Also, to improve their mobile banking platforms, banks should look at how phone companies offer mobile money services.