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IMTFI Research 2012. The Impact of Pure Mobile Micro-financing on the Poor. Tonny Omwansa & Tim Waema University of California, Irvine 5-7 December, 2012. Agenda. MUSONI Objectives Approach Preliminary findings Preliminary conclusions Way forward. MUSONI.
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IMTFI Research 2012 The Impact of Pure Mobile Micro-financing on the Poor Tonny Omwansa & Tim Waema University of California, Irvine 5-7 December, 2012
Agenda MUSONI Objectives Approach Preliminary findings Preliminary conclusions Way forward
MUSONI Musoni (‘M’ for Mobile and ‘Usoni’ for future or Mobile Future), see http://www.musoni.eu/index.php/media/videos The first MFI in the world to go 100% mobile Cash-lite operations, but not branchless Customers loans guaranteed within 72 hours Benefits: lower risks, less paper work, better customer service, easier and more accurate transaction tracking 2.5 years old, over 18,000 loans issued, 8,000 clients Uses M-Pesa [our definition of MM]
Objectives To establish how the clients gauge the socio-economic impact of utilizing technology-based financial services and if it drives them to consider using less cash in other transactions To establish and quantify the impact of cashless mobile micro financing on the lives of the poor clients, including the apparent shift from cash to e-money
Approach Aug 2012 Oct 2012 Dec/Jan Feb 2013 Design & Piloting Quant Data Qual Data Final Report Progress Report Component of the capability approach (conceptual framework): Quant: Obtained 245 acceptable questionnaires back Qual: Will be doing FGDs and IDIs
Demographics Total of 245 respondents from 34 groups Age Min age – 21 Max age - 63; Education High school - 45% Primary school - 27% Marital staus Married – 78% Single – 21% Gender Male – 45% Female – 55%
Membership of MFI Member of more than one MFI before joining Musoni? 44% Member of other MFI after joining Musoni? 18% Drop possibly attributed to Musoni’s motto: “Musoni is best”, “I don’t need another MFI”
Other common reasons for choice • Cheap/affordable • Easy to access credit • The loan interest is low • Good Service • Very efficient • Convenient • Faster to get credit • Quick response Musoni Mpesa
Using M-Pesa for loans is better than cash because: That they see it as “Money Saving” is significant
What makes you prefer Musoni over other MFIs? Being a cash society, this is substantial
Which statements are true about using M-Pesa for loan Value for mobile money is well appreciated
I keep money in M-Pesa for other uses besides loan repayment
How much money do you keep in Mpesa? To many, M-Pesa serves to store small amounts of money Avg: $40
Which of these services do you use? MM has multiple usage, beyond loan repayments
If I it was possible, I would do all transactions in: The desire to go cash-less is clear
What do you do when you receive your loan money through M-Pesa?
Do you send some of the loan to the bank via Mpesa? The 26% are interested in credit history offered by bank or lower ATM withdrawals (compared to M-Pesa)
Why do you change Mpesa back to cash? The two main barriers
Since I began using Musoni services: Confirms impact of cashless mobile micro financing
Why do you retain money in Mpesa? Confirms need for services beyond money transfer, safety of Mpesa, …?
I will not change to any other MFI if it does not use mobile phones
Key conclusions • There is evidence of appreciation of the impact of cash-lite • There is desire to shift to cash-lite • There are barriers for BoP to make the shift • Notably societal dependence on cash • Transaction cost for electronic money • Pegging mobile money to a product used by BoP makes it easier for them to appreciate cash-lite! • They need to experience MM over time to appreciate • Is that why Safaricom launched m-shwari?
Going forward… Several focus group discussions with clients In-depth interviews with loan officers In-depth interviews with management Comparison with a few non-Musoni clients