Vodacom targets M-Pesa in SA, again
Vodacom aims to breathe new life into its money transfer service, M-Pesa, by relaunching it in South Africa in the the first quarter of next year.
In results for the six months ended September 2013, Vodacom noted that its international M-Pesa customers has grown to 5.6 million, and the service had been launched in all of its markets which include Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria and Lesotho.
Tanzania has seen the biggest success for M-Pesa, contributing 18.7% to total revenue, and up from 12.6% in 2012. The country boasts 5.46 million M-Pesa users.
Vodacom noted that 19% (2012: 8.0%) of all airtime purchased in Tanzania is via M-Pesa.
CEO Shameel Joosub pointed out that M-Pesa is still functioning in South Africa. It currently has “a couple of hundred thousands customers,” he said. The group officially launched the service in SA in August 2010, in conjunction with Nedbank.
“Effectively what we would like to do is launch it in a different way, with a much bigger distribution, in the first quarter of next year, somewhere,” he said.
The chief executive said that the regulations were now much more friendlier to a money transfer service in South Africa.
“We think it will also be more effective in the South African market in the new format in which we are launching,” he said.
According to the Vodacom website, there are already over 2,000 M-Pesa supplying outlets including Vodacom shops, spaza shops, all Nedbank branches, and selected retailers.
It currently costs R2.45 to transfer money to a registered customer using M-Pesa.
Vodacom said that financial services is another key driver of future revenue growth.
“Over half of our customers in Tanzania use M-Pesa, for money transfer, airtime purchases and third-party payments. We have extended the ecosystem to include banks to improve functionality and convenience to our customers.
“Leveraging on the success of M-Pesa in Tanzania, we launched the service in all our International operations. We have been focusing on widening the distribution network, extending the agent network and registering new customers,” the group said.
Loading ...