Mobile Commerce: Mobile Money Transfer in Ghana

Mobile money transfer allows people to send money using Short Message Service (SMS). Its low costs, fast speed and no need of having a bank account. The service started in Kenya as MPESA introduced by Safaricom and has since been replicated in other parts of the world especially in developing countries. The service was introduced in Ghana in 2009. Much research has been done in mobile money transfer but mostly focused on the success of MPESA. Very little is known with respect to the service in Ghana. This paper studied the use of mobile money transfer service in Ghana. The study sought to compare the extension and impact of the service as against the successful implementation of Kenya‟s MPESA. The objective was to investigate the socioeconomic characteristics of MMT users, their MMT experience, as well as the agents‟ operations. Quantitative and qualitative research method based on the Positivism and the Interpretivism philosophies were used. The survey method using questionnaire was used. The respondents were users and agents of mobile money transfer in Ghana with sample taken from four communities, Ahenkro, Offinso, Buoho, and Kodie, located in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Secondary data was also used. The result of the survey showed that MMT was used to a large extent in Ghana, just as in Kenya; it was concluded that like the survey by Mas & Radcliffe, (2010) which found that 98 percent of users in Kenya were happy with the service, the users in Ghana were equally happy, however, the percentage in Ghana was 88%....