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The Role of User-Agent Interactions on Mobile Money Practices in Kenya and Tanzania | | Karen Sowon
; Edith Luhanga
; Lorrie Faith Cranor
; Giulia Fanti
; Conrad Tucker
; Assane Gueye
; | | Date: |
1 Sep 2023 | | Abstract: | Digital financial services have catalyzed financial inclusion in Africa.
Commonly implemented as a mobile wallet service referred to as mobile money
(MoMo), the technology provides enormous benefits to its users, some of whom
have long been unbanked. While the benefits of mobile money services have
largely been documented, the challenges that arise -- especially in the
interactions between human stakeholders -- remain relatively unexplored. In
this study, we investigate the practices of mobile money users in their
interactions with mobile money agents. We conduct 72 structured interviews in
Kenya and Tanzania (n=36 per country). The results show that users and agents
design workarounds in response to limitations and challenges that users face
within the ecosystem. These include advances or loans from agents, relying on
the user-agent relationships in place of legal identification requirements, and
altering the intended transaction execution to improve convenience. Overall,
the workarounds modify one or more of what we see as the core components of
mobile money: the user, the agent, and the transaction itself. The workarounds
pose new risks and challenges for users and the overall ecosystem. The results
suggest a need for rethinking privacy and security of various components of the
ecosystem, as well as policy and regulatory controls to safeguard interactions
while ensuring the usability of mobile money. | | Source: | arXiv, 2309.00226 | | Services: | Forum | Review | PDF | Favorites | |
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