Launched by mobile operator Safaricom in 2007, M-Pesa allowed users to store, send, and receive money using basic mobile phones, without requiring a traditional bank account. The service spread rapidly across Kenya and later to other countries, giving millions of previously unbanked people access to digital financial transactions and payments for goods and services. M-Pesa became a widely cited example of mobile technology enabling commerce and financial inclusion in regions with limited banking infrastructure.
Relevance to Trade History
M-Pesa showed how mobile-phone-based commerce could extend participation in the global digital economy to populations outside conventional banking and retail networks.
Read the full story in our article The Internet and the Transformation of Commerce.
Source: GSMA. See our Sources & Methodology page for how we select and verify references.