@techreport{Mbiti2011Mobile,
abstract = {M-Pesa is a mobile phone based money transfer system in Kenya which grew at a blistering pace following its inception in 2007. We examine how M-Pesa is used as well as its economic impacts. Analyzing data from two waves of individual data on financial access in Kenya, we find that increased use of M-Pesa lowers the propensity of people to use informal savings mechanisms such as ROSCAS, but raises the probability of their being banked. Using aggregate data, we calculate the velocity of M-Pesa at between 11.0 and 14.6 person-to-person transfers per month. In addition, we find that M-Pesa causes decreases in the prices of competing money transfer services such as Western Union. While we find little evidence that people use their M-Pesa accounts as a place to store wealth, our results suggest that M-Pesa improves individual outcomes by promoting banking and increasing transfers.},
address = {Providence, RI},
author = {Isaac Mbiti and David N. Weil},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {E40; O16; O33; 330},
language = {eng},
number = {2011-13; 17129},
publisher = {Brown Univ., Dep. of Economics},
title = {Mobile banking: The impact of M-Pesa in Kenya},
type = {Working Paper, Brown University, Department of Economics; NBER Working Paper Series},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/62662},
year = {2011}
}
