Considering the Future of Mobile Banking…
Posted in Social Enterprise by Marco Puccia with 3 Comments
I saw a staggering statistic yesterday — that 52% of all money transfers in Kenya are done through MPesa (the popular mobile banking platform). A growing number of organizations and companies are seeking to capitalize on this trend, including the mobile phone giant Nokia who recently introduced their own mobile banking platform.
The question that I have, is whether we should be considering a standardization or creation of a core system on which other systems can be built (similar to an API). My concern is that if mobile banking grows too fast, creating an overcrowded market of incompatible systems, the whole movement may render itself useless. We see a variation of this problem in the US with credit cards when some stores don’t accept AmEx or MasterCard. Of course, we can carry multiple credit cards for different companies no problem. And most vendors accept multiple cards. But having to juggle multiple mobile bank accounts in order to play ‘roulette’ every time you approach a vendor is a much more complex problem, particularly when considering the market and the problem that is being addressed by this new form of banking.
So what are your thoughts on where mobile banking is going? Should it be standardized? If so, is it better to address this now or later?
