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Vodacom calls quits on M-Pesa in SA

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 09 May 2016
Vodacom will end its M-Pesa offering in SA on 30 June.
Vodacom will end its M-Pesa offering in SA on 30 June.

Vodacom plans to discontinue its M-Pesa offering in SA with effect from 30 June, following "a thorough review".

"Vodacom's decision is based on the fact that the business sustainability of M-Pesa is predicated on achieving a critical mass of users. Based on our revised projections and high levels of financial inclusion in South Africa, there is little prospect of the M-Pesa product achieving this in its current format in the mid-term," says CEO Shameel Joosub.

Vodacom says in other markets where financial inclusion is limited and where there is a more supportive macro environment, M-Pesa continues to gain solid traction based on exponential growth in customer acquisition. Kenya and Tanzania are prime examples of this.

"It is important to note this decision does not affect M-Pesa customers in Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the DRC, where the product continues to grow exponentially."

Joosub says Vodacom is fully committed to mitigating any inconvenience to customers impacted by the decision and assures all M-Pesa South Africa customers that their funds remain safe and readily accessible.

"We remain of the opinion that opportunities exist in the financial services environment and we will continue to explore these," Joosub concludes.

According to Vodacom's results for the quarter ended 31 December 2015, the mobile operator had 9.7 million M-Pesa customers across its operations in Africa.

The last M-Pesa statistics released for SA were for the year ended 31 March 2015, showing there were one million registered M-Pesa customers signed up in SA, with around 76 000 actively using the service.

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