For Kamau, a small trader in Gikomba, financial inclusion means being able to accept a payment from a customer without worrying about whether he has enough cash for change in his pocket. For Achieng, a young person running her side hustle in Juja, it means receiving payments and buying data to market her products online while keeping track of her money from the same phone. For a family living abroad, it can mean sending money back home instantly when it is needed most.
M-PESA has moved beyond being simply a convenient way to send and receive money. It is increasingly becoming part of how people work, trade, save, pay and participate in the digital economy.
Many local businesses start with a simple mobile phone, which can quickly become much more than a means of communication. It can serve as a point of sale, a marketing channel, a way to manage payments, basically an essential tool for running the business. For underserved communities, the benefits are just as significant. Digital financial services can help overcome some of the traditional barriers to accessing formal financial services, including distance, time and the need to visit a physical branch. But true financial inclusion goes beyond simply providing access. It is about ensuring that people can use these services consistently and for the different financial needs that shape their everyday lives.
This is why initiatives such as Safaricom’s Pata More campaign are relevant to the broader financial inclusion conversation. By giving customers more value from the services they already use, the enhancement speaks to an important part of inclusion: making digital services more useful and affordable for everyday economic activity. For an MSME, more affordable connectivity translates to more opportunity to promote a business online, communicate with customers or complete digital transactions. For a small trader, retaining more value from each M-PESA transaction can make a difference to the money available for the next purchase of stock.
The experience is also becoming more integrated. Through Safaricom’s My OneApp, customers can access multiple services from one digital platform, bringing connectivity and other services together in one place. This makes it easier for customers to access the services they need without having to move between different platforms.
Even as M-PESA continues to evolve, the focus moves to making financial services useful in people’s everyday lives. For a small business owner, that could mean receiving payments, paying suppliers or managing their business from their phone. For a customer, it could mean being able to pay, save, invest or access other services easily and conveniently.
Ultimately, financial inclusion is about making financial services work for people in their everyday lives and participate fully in the digital economy.