Mobile money as a frugal innovation for the bottom of the pyramid – Cases of selected African countries

David‐West, Olayinka; Iheanachor, Nkemdilim; Umukoro, Immanuel Ovemeso

doi:10.1080/23322373.2019.1652023

Cited by 32 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In terms of RQ2, the reported regression analysis showed that the latent trait underlying the found acquisition pattern relates to mobile phone technology maturity and the size of micro-entrepreneur’s enterprise (see Table 3). This extends the previous literature which addressed mobile phone technology adoption in Asian and SSA contexts (Comer & Wikle, 2008; David-West et al, 2019; Jain & Hundal, 2007; Khan et al, 2019; Ramayah et al, 2017) by showing how the adoption of various mobile phone apps and services is interrelated and driven by various antecedents, next to the type of mobile phone that is owned by the micro-entrepreneur, a basic model or a smartphone.…”

Section: Concluding Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Although most of the mobile money adopters are centered in and around urban areas, the providers are increasingly targeting rural dwellers. A detailed and comprehensive overview of the Zambian mobile money industry has been provided by David-West et al (2019, p. 289).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In developing economies, mobile money is a typical frugal innovation (Lehner & Gausemeier, 2016; Peša, 2018), fitting the three criteria of Weyrauch and Herstatt (2017), that is, cost reductions, offering core functionalities, and optimized performance. Mobile money has facilitated financial inclusiveness by providing banking services to millions of unbanked Africans who often did not have enough formal income to become customers of financial institutions (David-West et al, 2019).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These developments have triggered academic interest in the continent’s mobile phone sector (Dey et al, 2013; Nakata & Antalis, 2015; Suri & Jack, 2016). Previously reported research has often addressed a specific local innovation, “mobile money,” which “is a payment system (storing of value, payment instrument and channel) that enables financial services (payments, savings, credit, and insurance) using ubiquitous mobile technology” (David-West et al, 2019, p. 277). For example, M-Pesa replaces more conventional banking services for many low-income individuals in Kenya and Tanzania (Economides & Jeziorski, 2017); “Pesa” is the Swahili term for money and “M” represents mobile.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Insight into the sequential adoption order of mobile services and apps by micro-entrepreneurs supports cross-sell target selection. Consider a hypothetical acquisition pattern in which micro-entrepreneurs in SSA first adopt voice calling, then mobile money and last mobile banking, which we define as “the conduct of transactional and informational banking (accessing traditional bank accounts) over mobile channels or devices” and which is a more advanced mobile phone service than the previously discussed mobile money facility (David-West et al, 2019, p. 277). Similar to successive motivations predicted by the hierarchy of needs of Maslow (1943), this acquisition pattern would imply that voice calling is relevant for the most basic mobile phone technology need, mobile money would fulfill the next need, followed by mobile banking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Adoption of services and apps on mobile phones by micro-entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Paas

Eijdenberg

Masurel

2020

International Journal of Market Research

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This article shows that acquisition pattern analysis is highly suited for research in developing economies. Consumers in such contexts prioritize the adoption of alternative product-services as a result of resource constraints. In the reported acquisition pattern analysis, we provide insights into sequential adoption of services and applications (apps) on mobile phones, for example, Facebook and mobile money, by micro-entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa. We collected survey data from 169 Zambian food vendors, and through Mokken scale analysis we derived an acquisition pattern for 12 analyzed services and apps. Micro-entrepreneurs with more employees, tertiary education, and who were younger tended to be closer to the hierarchy’s apex. These findings imply that the individual’s mobile phone technology maturity and business development drive their adoption of services and apps. After presenting these results, we conclude with a discussion of the theoretical insights, managerial insights, and implications for policy makers resulting from the study.

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Section: Concluding Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Adoption of services and apps on mobile phones by micro-entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Paas

Eijdenberg

Masurel

2020

International Journal of Market Research

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Snags in mobile money in developing economies

Kanobe

Bwalya

2021

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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Lessening snags in the management of mobile money systems is a fundamental prerequisite. The study was motivated by the continuous mobile money management snags. Previous studies in developing economies focused mainly on technological algorithm for mobile money systems with untraceable attention given to management matters. The study aimed at lessening snags in the management of mobile money system. Underpinned by activity theory and guided by an interpretive paradigm, a qualitative inquiry was conducted. Semi-structured interviews and internal document review formed the key data instruments. Expert purposive sampling was adopted, data thematically analyzed and themes mapped on activity theory nodes.The study revealed inadequate monitoring of the mobile money agents, insufficient confidentiality and privacy in financial transactions; use of general accounts for financial transactions, use of generic guidelines and polices, third party involvement in sensitive mobile money activities and weak staff recruitment policies as the key findings. Managerial implications for the study include online registration of customers, introduction of online transaction monitoring, online categorization of mobile money accounts, digital financial crime checks, digital validation of customer identities and continuous review and updates of mobile money guidelines.activity theory, developing economies, mobile money, mobile money management | Introduction and backgroundShrinking snags in the management of mobile money systems is central to their success, total acceptance and usage in developing economies where, for decades, the majority population has lacked access to conventional financial services. The trust, confidence and customer royalty to mobile money services can only be warranted if there are no snags in mobile money systems. Therefore, the snags in mobile money management can easily thwart people's trust to access and use of these services. Mobile money is described differently across various regions depending on the region's level of technological and economic development. For instance, the understanding and use of mobile money in developed economies differ from developing economies. Mobile money is defined as an electronic wallet that lets users store, send and receive money using their phones (Olayinkaet al. 2019;Gutierrez & Choi, 2014;Yakub & Adenuga, 2013). In this paper, mobile money has been termed as the use of mobile phone to initiate, authorize or approve electronic financial transactions or remittance using money accounts stored on a mobile phone SIM card.The key activities of the mobile money services as per this definition are mobile network operator (MNO)-centric and the most common in developing economies.

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Processes of frugal social innovation: Creative approaches in underserved South African communities

Lorini

Ngwenyama

Chigona

2022

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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The article presents three case studies of frugal social innovation developed by groups of citizens from underserved communities of Cape Town, South Africa. The processes are analyzed to highlight how innovation emerged. Three factors were crucial: lack of resources, social transformation goals, and flexibility of the approach to technologies. Their combination allowed for creativity and inclusivity to become the drivers of the processes. The information and communication technology outcomes are innovative in the context and for the participants. More innovative are the processes, which maintained a high level of participation, a collective collaboration and a focus on the social transformative impact of the digital solutions. Furthermore, while much of the literature on frugal and social innovation has a business perspective whereby users are referred to as customers, the cases present community groups as innovators. This approach contributes to the development of a theory, which expands existing ones on frugal and social innovation. The principles derived from the analysis represent the contribution to practice in the ICT4D domain. They show how in a space with limited technical and procedural knowledge, it is possible to reduce the blinders toward innovation and operate in an ecosystem where participation, inclusion, and growth develop.

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Mobile money as a frugal innovation for the bottom of the pyramid – Cases of selected African countries

Cited by 32 publications

References 39 publications

Adoption of services and apps on mobile phones by micro-entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Adoption of services and apps on mobile phones by micro-entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Snags in mobile money in developing economies

Processes of frugal social innovation: Creative approaches in underserved South African communities

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