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Mobile Money Kills the Need for Wallets

  • By Timothy Roberts
  • Monday, January 21, 2013

An article caught my eye last week on the Coast News site from Kenya. The article titled Mobile Money Making Wallets redundant in Kenya, explains how with mobile money, fewer and fewer people are carrying wallets. Talk about a follow-on benefit of mobile money.

The success of mobile money in Kenya is well-documented and as more and more Kenyans start using mobile money they are finding that they simply don’t use cash. The article gives two great examples of how paper currency no longer changes hands, including how a gentleman offering photography and video for weddings pays all his staff using mobile money.

Both of the examples cite not only the convenience, but the security of not having cash on hand. If someone is mugged they don’t lose their money, just the actual mobile device. There’s alot to be said for that kind of peace of mind.

I don’t know that anyone really thought about how mobile money would eliminate the need or a wallet, (or even how mobile devices would make wrist watches extinct as they can simply check the time on their device) but it is a great example of the unexpected benefits of this transformation. We’ll be watching more for these benefits – big and small throughout 2013. We’d love to hear your comments on the follow-on benefits of mobile money – comment below and share your ideas.