The reality of Mobile Money interoperability is finally here

Listers

Interesting development. The Telco sector with policy push from MOICT is
finally testing interoperability of Mobile Money across Networks. This is a
step in the right direction. This list has long advocated for this. It is
gratifying to see that this is happening now. Kudos to MOICT and CS Mucheru
for pushing this through. Kudos to the telcos for making it happen.

I\’m however curious as to the headline of the story:-

Mobile Money deal spells doom to M-Pesa

Interoperability may very well cement and increase M-Pesa\’s dominance in
the space. This battle is not going to be won on the promise of withdrawing
and sending money. Increasingly people want convenience beyond cash-outs
and peer to peer transfers. The players who will win are those who
understand and execute the following:-

1. Super Focus on the customer
2. A one stop shop Virtual Bank – Payments, deposits, savings etc.
3. Brand Equity built on the principle that the customer ALWAYS comes
first.

My sense is that the interoperability \’promise\’ for laggard brands will go
the way of the Number Porting Promise. There is no short cut to succeeding
in business and serving your customer with excellence. For those expecting
the government to help them vanquish their business rivals they have a long
way to wait..

The winner here is the customer. The price for the telcos and other mobile
money service provider is that you now have a level playing field.. Sort
of.. 🙂

*Ali Hussein*

*Principal*

*Hussein & Associates*

Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,

Chiromo Road, Westlands,

Nairobi, Kenya.

Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
organizations that I work with.

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