Mobile Money Transfer Spreading from Africa to Europe

Mobile money is a type of banking where mobile phones are used to shop for grocery, pay bills and transfer money. In Africa it has become the means through which small businesses and families send and receive money.

When it launched around 2007 in Kenya, it received lukewarm reception, with experts giving it little chance against plastic money and traditional banking services. Today, mobile money banking has become the defacto means of financial transactions across Africa.

Mobile money transfer is now on its way to Europe.

In what is referred to as electronic wallet service, mobile money transfer and payment service is useful where cash is not readily available, plastic money is not in use and bitcoin is not available.

In most of Africa, plastic money transaction is very limited and is not showing signs of growing, and bitcoin is not known. But with mobile money services, transactions can be done across carrier networks and countries, allowing unhindered money transfer between users of competing telecom companies and countries.

Through popular carrier networks like Safaricom, Vodaphone, MTN and Airtel, mobile money transfer innovations like Mpesa, MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money have become very popular all across Africa.

To consolidate its business elsewhere, Vodaphone also introduced mobile money services in India and Egypt in 2013 and the adoption is monumental.

Whereas technological innovations have always taken root in the western world before trickling down to developing continents, a few innovations have evolved from the bottom, upwards. Japan mesmerised the world when it ushered in the era of Sony and other electronic appliances in the 80s, and Bangladesh pioneered rural micro-finance empowerment, also in the 80s.

When mobile money services launched in Africa about a decade ago, it received lukewarm reception with experts doubting its applicability, and giving it little chance against plastic money and traditional banking services. Today, it is the most popular way for small businesses and families to send and receive money and also shop and pay for a kilo of rice.

Mobile communication has revolutionized the way Africa lives and does business, according to gsm mobile Africa.

It may not be the replacement of plastic money and banks in Europe, but it will surely help in solving petty money transfer headaches in less advanced communities. It is no wonder that UK's Vodaphone is starting the Mpesa mobile money revolution in Eastern Europe.

The mobile telecom industry has changed the social and business life in Africa. It has allowed communication even to the most distant and rural communities.

Coming from a background where communication was a nightmare, the evolution of mobile phones is a contributing factor in changes and progress in health, business and social sectors.

The addition of mobile money transfer and payment services was just an icing on the cake; an addition to a rich pool of users that was getting mobile by the day.

Depending on how worthwhile it becomes in Eastern Europe, mobile money transactions may as well knock at the doors of Western Europe.

The popularity of mobile money transaction owes to its convenience and nature of mobility. Unlike the banking system which demands a walk down to the ATM, mobile cash transfer is instant and where withdrawal is needed, withdrawal outlets are littered everywhere, since their setup do not require stringent regulations that go with banks and other financial institutions.

Mobile money transactions also allow for deposits and withdrawals that are less than a dollar, making it viable for mobile users of different economic classes. Of course this is better applicable to poor communities, but actually elaborates how flexible the system can get.