Scientific Research toward Cashless Society by mobile
payment
Mobile phones have made it possible for people without bank
accounts to do financial transactions on their mobile phones using a form of
credit system or prepaid airtime [M-Pesa, Tigo pesa, Airtel Money, Easy pesa, V-money,
Smart money, Mobile Banking and many more].There has become more demand for
mobile applications with a focus on providing them with access to financial services.
In many developing worlds these mobile payments services are the first
financial service for the previously ‘unbanked’ people.
A number of mobile payments studies have been conducted
around the world using various wireless technologies including Bluetooth, Short
Message Service (SMS), Near Field Communication, and Infrared. However, besides
offering many advantages, mobile payment also introduces several risks, in
particular concerning security and privacy to their users. The payment activity
involves transferring digital cash from one party to another for the provision
of goods, services or both.
This process involves the use of user credentials
for authentication regardless of these devices having limited resources (Power,
Storage, Computation capabilities).Choosing the better technology for the
petrol and gas station has to be strategic due to different issues concern safety,
heath and security. Mobilekwetu/m-research has decided to conduct scientific Research
on mobile payment specifically on the industry of Oil and gas products and
service.
Scientific Research toward Cashless Society
Research: Human Interactive Safety, Heath and Security during
Performing Mobile Payment (USSD/SMS, RFID/NFC, NSDT) Near Explosive Products
(Oil and Gas)
-Focus on consumers’ needs, behavior and habits
Consumers: Mobile payment could allow consumers to make
payments 'anytime’, ‘anywhere', becoming less dependent on the need to carry
cash which in turn could reduce risk of theft.
-Focus on social, cultural and Economic.
Research technique (Design Science research (to test a
technological prototype))
A 2009 study by Deloitte predicts that by the end of 2015,
seventy percent of m-payment users will be under the age of 40 and that the
annual spend of these Millennials will reach $2.45 trillion dollars in the US
alone.
Please to welcome your support and comments toward choosing the better
technology for the petrol and gas station due to strategic different issues
concern safety, heath and security.
Sponsored
by: Mobilekwetu blog and Gastanzania blog
==Background==
Research and practice in mobile learning are still in their
infancy. Over the past ten years the field has moved from small-scale research
studies to some large national and international initiatives, such as the
EC-funded MOBIlearn and m-Learning projects, a growing number of commercial
services, and many institution-based projects. The evidence from research is
mostly in the form of case studies that report the progress of a project, with
accounts of their successes and difficulties drawn from observations by the
researchers and interviews with participants. There have been a few attempts to
carry out small-scale comparative evaluations of specific technologies, such as
mind mapping tools on handheld computers, and a very small number of studies
that have compared learning outcomes of classroom trials of handheld technology
to traditional teaching. This paucity of quantitative and comparative data is
entirely understandable given the rapid pace of developments in the technology
and the time and resources needed to carry out a useful comparative evaluation.
What is the value of running detailed educational evaluations of a prototype
mobile learning system implemented on last-year’s handheld technology?
Thus, a critical reader of this report may find that the
evidence of what research has to say for practice is, at best, unreliable and
outdated. However, taking a broader perspective, we find a fairly consistent
pattern of reports about what works and what doesn’t. We shall take an
illuminative approach – attempting to shine a light on the emerging
technologies and activities in mobile learning that appear, from a variety of
evidence, to be supporting good practice in teaching and learning. We shall
also attempt to focus on issues and problems, from technical failures to
unexpected problems of engaging learners or supporting effective teaching.
To start, we need to clarify what is meant by ‘mobile
learning’. The concept, like the technology, has developed over recent years,
from the use of handheld devices in classrooms, through the use of technology
to support learning in context and on the move, towards a broader investigation
of learning in a mobile society. One definition that captures the dual
perspectives of learner mobility and learning with portable technology is: Any sort of learning that happens when the
learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens
when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by
mobile technologies. (O'Malley et al., 2003)
To provide a structure for the report, we shall begin with
the two most active and promising areas of research, which are the use of
portable technology to support curriculum learning in the classroom, and the
use of personal mobile technologies for learning on the move. These can be seen
as two ends of a dimension from enhancing classroom learning through devices
such as handheld response systems, to learning as part of everyday life by
informal communication and knowledge sharing with mobile phones.
Vodacom Setting Sights On African Expansion
Vodacom might not be the biggest mobile service provider in Africa, but the company feels that there is still a lot of room for expansion – especially further into Africa.
Vodacom Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub (image: Vodacom)
“We are looking at opportunities in Africa, we believe we’ve cracked the Africa model now. Our African model is working … and we’re confident we can roll it out successfully. For us to sustain the growth going forward, we think we need to look at new opportunities,” he said in a response to a question about potential acquisitions in Africa,” Vodacom Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said.
Vodacom has offices in South Africa, but also has a presence in other African nations, such as Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho. Rival network operator MTN has operations in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Mentioning those countries, Joosub added that they will be looking at rolling out mobile money transfer options to those nations – working off the hugely successful M-Pesa model that has dominated the Kenyan and Tanzanian markets.
“With 47.1% of Tanzania’s customer base actively using M-Pesa, the service now contributes 12.6% to Tanzania’s service revenue, up considerably from 6.9 % a year ago. Building on this success, similar money transfer services will be rolled out in the DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho in the next nine months,” he added.
Joosub concluded by saying “the International operations have reached a critical turning point in terms of profitability, EBITDA increased 92.3% to R1.269 billion and the EBITDA margin grew by 6.0 pts to 20.6%, as we started to realise scale benefits from significant revenue growth.
Research. Tracking Mobile Money Use in Tanzania
In quarterly tracking studies through fall 2012, InterMedia is monitoring trends in awareness and use of mobile money in Tanzania, for the benefit of the financial access stakeholder community.
This first quarterly report, covering the period Sept-Nov. 2011, provides a concise view on levels of awareness and use, triggers and deterrents to use, what alternatives to mobile money services are being used, and perspectives on successful marketing of mobile money services.
As Key Points this report shows:
- Ownership of a mobile phone in Tanzania is high with more than three-quarters (78 percent) of Tanzanians having household ownership of a mobile phone and 63 percent having personal ownership.
- General awareness of mobile money (MM) services in Tanzania is almost universal with 93 percent of Tanzanians aware of at least one brand of mobile money services. However, only about a quarter of the population (24 percent) is actually using MM.
- Use of mobile money is not even across demographic characteristics.
- Usage of mobile money is positively associated with ownership of mobile phones.
- Income often not a factor in usage of MM applications.
- MM usage still restricted to sending and receiving money.
- Non-MM users are not yet convinced that MM is reliable, trustworthy, or convenient.
- Rural females living below the $1.25/day PPP poverty line, the population least likely to use MM currently, express the most interest in the product’s safety, security and convenience.MOBILE AFRICA REPORT:
Overview:
The focus of the Mobile Africa report this time is on the overall innovation ecosystem, which includes a range of stakeholders: industry, entrepreneurs, government, academia, civil society, donors and multilateral organisations. The report also addresses the crucial role of innovator networks and incubators. The material is drawn from interviews with over two dozen digital media experts as well as extensive research from news and market reports.Sustainability of the innovation ecosystem requires the right blend of bottom up entrepreneurial energy and top-down facilitation of investment policies and infrastructure. These roles are played by global+local networks of mobile startups and professionals, such as MobileMonday. They are also augmented by industry-government-academic incubator networks such as the infoDev m:Labs.The report identifies best practices and emerging directions for mobile innovation in Africa, and highlights the increasing profile of award winners from Africa in mobile excellence competitions in the region and globally. Overall shifts in the mobile industry are tracked in areas ranging from connectivity options and apps to operator dynamics and political impacts. The report ends with in-depth analysis of the emerging opportunities, challenges and recommendations for ensuring the growth of the mobile industry in Africa in a sustainable and inclusive manner.The questionnaire and analysis used in this report is based on the author’s “8 Cs” framework of digital media, ie. the components of a digital ecosystem include connectivity, content, community, capacity, culture, cooperation, commerce and capital. In other words, holistic analysis of digital ecosystems should address not just connectivity devices and operator tariffs, but also localised content and services, payment options, knowledge-sharing culture, multi-stakeholder alliances, RoI models and human resource capacity in technology and socio-economic development.This report, along with earlier annual Mobile Africa reports, will be useful and informative for innovators, incubators, policymakers, analysts and all those interested in the broader development processes and impacts of new media. The report also serves as a call to action and collaboration for other researchers interested in publishing regular insightful snapshots of mobile innovation dynamics in Africa.Mobile Telephony Surpasses the 70 Percent Mark in Urban AfricaGrowth in mobile phone ownership in African key commercial cities has opened new grounds at the close of 2008 by surpassing the 70 percent mark.This is according to findings of a study conducted by Consumer Insight - a highly regarded research agency in the continent, in the main commercial cities in Eastern, Central, Southern, and West Africa, and the Indian Ocean islands. In total, 3331 respondents were studied across 11 African countriesIn Nairobi, Kenya, 91 percent of the middle and upper class population own at least one mobile phone. Ownership in Lusaka, Zambia is at 80 percent while in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia it stands at 79 percent. Bujumbura, Burundi’s capital is the worst fairing country in mobile phone ownership, with a 54 percent ownership rating.Kigali - Rwanda scored 74, Dar-es-Salaam -Tanzania 73, Lagos - Nigeria 71, Luanda - Angola 70, Kampala - Uganda, 69, Hargeisa - Somaliland 69 and Antananarivo - Madagascar 55 in percentage points.The findings of the Consumer Insight Research support a similar study published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which affirms that mobile telephony is the most important mode of telecommunications in developing countries. “…for the vast majority of the low-income population, mobile telephony is likely to be the sole tool connecting them to the information society in the short to medium term,” the UNCTAD report, released in early 2008 states.More men have embraced mobile telephony than women, according to the Consumer Insight study. Precisely, only 26 percent of males compared to 31 percent females do not own a cell phone in urban Africa. This state of affairs is attributable to income disparities among men and women. In Africa, although there has been considerable progress in the last few decades, the disparity is still heavy in favour of men against women.Making personal calls and using the Short Messaging Service (SMS or sending text messages) are the most popular functions across various users’ demographics in the eleven countries. In total, 91 percent of respondents involved in the research prefer making personal calls as compared to 61 percent who prefer sending text messages.An insight into the two functions indicates that Kenyans call their friends and relatives on their mobile phones more than anyone else. In Zambia, another leading gun in this facet, the figure is 97 percent.Official or business mobile phone calls are made by 43 percent of the research population. And Ethiopians are the leading lights in this category at 67 percent. Kenyans scored 66, Uganda 58, Zambia and Madagascar 55, Somalia 40, Tanzania 32, Nigeria 29, Burundi 22 while Angola trailed with 12 percent.Browsing the Internet on mobile phones is yet to gain widespread reception in Africa perhaps due to the high cost of connectivity. Kenyans are the leading mobile internet users. They scored 28 percent, followed by Nigeria and Tanzania at 16 percent. The other countries’ scored single digit percentage points in this aspect.Similarly, few people send emails from their mobile phones. Again, the number of email senders is higher in Kenya than any other country studied. The country was scored 15 percent, Tanzania 14 percent while all the other countries were below 10 percent. This should be temporary as the cost of internet is expected to drop with the adoption of fiber optic connectivity in the near future.Of other mobile phone functions examined by Consumer Insight, taking photographs and playing games are the two leading.The study also established that 28 percent of the research population indulged in mobile phone games led by Zambians who scored 47 percent. Kenya was second position with 38 percent. The Somalilanders are the least interested with only 8 percent saying they enjoyed the games.The penchant to take pictures with a mobile phone is at par between both men and women. Of those interviewed, 18 percent in each gender category acknowledged using their mobile phones to take pictures.Nation wise, Ethiopians at 41 percent, were more likely to use a mobile phone to record images than anyone else. Kenyans were second with 28 percent while Somalilanders were the very last at two percent.
