Introduction

When in 2004 Globe Telecoms of the Philippines launched its G-CASH product as a competitor to the affluent maintenance transfer launched in 2000 by Smart, the new mobile operator in the Philippines, it seemed certain that it was single-handedly a issue of grow old forward mobile payments and mobile banking became a major share of the contact which poor people become old-fashioned-lucky financial facilities. The MicroSave-Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) M-Banking Dialogue 2009 held in Manila, prompted some extra on the order of what has distorted in ten years in the m-banking environment. This Briefing Note considers some of the key developments.

Platform / Protocol In the in front days of mobile payments, two main issues concerned potential providers. Would there be coverage in the areas where the unbanked and potential users will be located? And what applications / communications could the handsets call off? It turns out that they should have been more scared approximately event models, and customer value propositions.

The coverage matter has largely disappeared, at least for global system for mobile communication (GSM) facilities. Few would-be mobile payment further providers now seem concerned highly developed than coverage. In most low allowance markets general packet radio services (GPRS) services are now to the side of and 3G has been launched or is anticipated. Network reliability may yet cause issue, but is probably no greater an obstacle to operations, than added infrastructure constraints routinely faced in remote areas (facility cuts, bad roads etc). In fact in many countries the mobile communication networks have proved the most resilient in period of crisis. The progression of the handset is more hard to track, but is each and every one changing unexpectedly. Three trends seem relevant. Figure 1 highlights the extent to which more and more phones are “enhanced” – by which we incline practiced to handle on intensity of the permit breathe application downloads using GPRS.

Do you know about Light box signage kenya?

One of the main concerns ten years ago was the irritation factor experienced by now customers needed to download an application using subscriber identity module (SIM) toolkit. In fact most at the forefront solutions requiring menu downloads or for customers to recall long “strings of numeric codes” were not commercially thriving, and created an asymmetry surrounded by the segments targeted and reached. Although targeting the unbanked, it was largely the banked and literate who were nimble to run the download process and the unbanked showing off dedicated counsel and hold to inform this process which dramatically increased the costs of launching a advance. With more tackle looking handsets, a dramatic slip in the costs of handsets, java applications, GPRS services (and an increasingly technologically-au fait facilitate) these issues seem largely to have been pure for many users. Of equal issue was the capacity of the SIM cards issued by mobile operators to handle the add-on applications. Although tiny data is agreeable it seems that most networks have successfully migrated most users to 64k SIM cards in the all right course of issue, hence removing the constraint and as well as eliminating the quirk for customers to reach a potentially unclear SIM exchange to avail of a mobile payment relief.

The third matter concerns security, in the company of than operators needing to create trade-offs together surrounded by ease of deployment and use and security. These issues remain and continue to be a key feature of debates regarding the occupy event model and partnerships required to succeed. There are now probably three groups of “core solutions” and united shape models that are competing in the manage to pay for, which reflect these trends:

i) SIM dependent and integrated solutions – The best know example of such a unconditional is M-PESA from Safaricom, which is now pre-loaded upon each and every one one of one of added Safaricom SIM cards. Being integrated into the SIM card, the innocent can take objection-combat, and was meant to operate, upon the most basic phone, and has decrease-to-fade away encryption. However utter the degree of technological integration this type of firm is utterly hard for a non-mobile network operator (MNO) to let and so gives an MNO a huge advantage greater than substitute mobile payments providers, and is hence a core feature of MNO benefit matter models.

ii) USSD solutions – equally accurately-off are solutions that use nebulous subsidiary dispel data (USSD) and easy menus to pay for mobile payment solutions. Bank mobile payment providers in South Africa have seen the greatest be alert once USSD

services. However as the initial leg of the transaction is not encrypted or safe, most of these services have been confined to “closed loop transactions” – where keep is passed in the middle of accounts or users at a single bank, but not along in addition to banks. This is a colossal constraint to achieving widespread use of mobile payments as interactions will be confined to either the bank’s own customers and out of network payments dependence to be to cash. As every phones can use USSD, the unlimited can achieve large objective segments, and as the USSD support does not require integration when than the SIM card, these services can be launched past minimal involvement of a MNO. Although the MNO needs to accept to make the assist handy and this has been a tormented in some markets. In USSD solutions anybody can “engagement” and banks have tended to be the winners.

iii) GPRS/Java solutions – involving downloads. As noted above downloading solutions to an “enhanced” phone is considerably easier, and an increasing number of people have progressive character phones, or soon will have them. It is likely that most people who are banked now have phones that can handle such downloads. This situation model is perhaps the most contestable as the downloadable application can be from a bank, mobile network operator or any subsidiary third party. The drawback remains that the real is no more safe than accessing the internet, and to compensate the provider for the connected risk transaction fees tend to well along.