Vodacom is set to re-launch mobile money service M-Pesa next week, as it tries to make good on its initial aim to ensure strong uptake in the South African market.
An insider has told ITWeb the service will be added to the operator's USSD menu on Monday - allowing users to access it by dialling the *111# code. The option is not currently visible on the menu.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman was evasive regarding which elements of the service would be introduced, saying there would be no "big bang" launch, but that different aspects would be introduced over an extended period of time. He said the operator will outline details of how the company will move forward with M-Pesa at a media briefing scheduled for next week.
Shameel Joosub, the company's CEO, conceded in May its M-Pesa product had not been successful. At the time, he said it would be re-launched on a new IT platform that would interface directly into banks "in the next few months". He said Vodacom was also looking into expanding the distribution channel to add on more points of sale.
Joosub said, on the back of the company's annual results to March, that mobile financial services are a key driver of future growth for the company. He noted there are six million subscribers using M-Pesa's service across Vodacom's international operations, a 21.6% gain year-on-year.
No traction
Although the service was initially introduced locally as a partnership between SA's first mobile operator Vodacom and Nedbank, in August 2010, it has failed to gain the same sort of traction as seen in other African markets such as Tanzania and Kenya.
On launch, the companies estimated there were more than 13 million "economically active" people without a bank account in SA.
Vodacom projected M-Pesa would sign up 10 million users in the first three years, but the service was held back by regulation and the integration needed to move money from a bank account to an electronic wallet.
Developed by Vodafone in 2007, M-Pesa enables unbanked customers to buy airtime, pay bills and withdraw, transfer and deposit money using a cellphone.
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