A well-functioning and inclusive financial sector in developing countries is important for economic development. A mobile payment revolution has been taking place in Africa and allows frugal financial innovations for inclusive finance. This paper looks at the experience of M-Pesa in Kenya and in particular how they deal with customer care. Not enough use is made of the field agents and of customer segmentation (the low-income customers in particular deserve more attention), while customer care and operations can also be improved. Suggestions are made for how to do so and conclusions drawn about the strong points of this potentially frugal financial innovation. M-Pesa is helping people to become ‘financially included’ and tries to learn from customer satisfaction research.

Agarwal, R., Green, R., Roos, G. and Selen, W. (eds) (2015) The Handbook of Service Innovation, London: Springer-Verlag.

Alexander., J. and Hordes, M. (2003) Reinventing the Services Organization, New York, NY: Select Books Inc.

Austin, J. (2000) The Collaboration Challenge, How Nonprofits and Businesses Succeed through Strategic Alliances, San Francisco, CA: Drucker Foundation.

Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2012) Poor Economics, New York, NY: Centre for Microfinance.

Chapleau, S. (2013) Green Elephants, Montreal: Green Elephant Books.

Collica, R. (2011) Customer Segmentation and Clustering, North Carolina: SAS Institute.

Fallon, N. (2014) ‘Customer service done right: 5 best practices’, Business News Daily, 17 October 2014 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7306-customer-service-best-practices.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) (2009) Mobile Payments in Kenya, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

FSD (2013) FinAccess National Survey, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

Financial Times (2015) ‘FT Series Democratising finance: simple phone technology promises to revolutionise access to finance’, Financial Times, 30 January 2015: 14.

Fitzgerald, C. (2014) ‘Inbound marketing: the 4 stages of engagement’, Target Marketing Magazine, 1 May 2014.

Gerbasi, A. and Latusek, D. (2010) Trust and Technology in a Ubiquitous Modern Environment, New York, NY: IGI Global.

Govindarajan, V. and Trimble, J. (2012) Reverse Innovation, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Herstatt, C. and Tiwari, R. (2012) ‘Frugal innovation: a global networks’ perspective’, Die Unternehmung – Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice 3: 245–274.

Knorringa, P. and Leliveld, A. (eds) (2018) ‘Frugal innovation’, special issue of the European Journal of Development Research 30(1).

Lal, R. and Sachdev, I. (2015) Mobile Money Services, Design and Development for Financial Inclusion, Harvard Working Paper 15-083, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

Ledgerwood, J. (2006) Transforming Microfinance Institutions, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Marr, B. and Neely, A. (2004) Managing and Measuring for Value: The Case of Call Centre Performance, Cranfield: Cranfield University.

Mas, I. and Ngweno, A. (2010) Three Keys to M-Pesa’s Success, Seattle, WA: Gates Foundation.

McCaffrey, M., Anthony, L., Lee, A., Githachuri, K. and Wright, G. (2014) Agent Network Accelerator Survey: Kenya Country Report, Nairobi: Helix Institute of Digital Finance.

Mehta, K. and Realini, C. (2015) Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Victoria, BC: Friesen Press.

Mullainathan, S. and Shafir, E. (2013) Scarcity, New York, NY: Times Books.

Paljug, K. (2018) ‘How to reach your target customer’, Business News Daily, 20 September 2018 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8714-know-target-customer.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Peelen, E. (2005) Customer Relation Management, Harlow: Pearson.

Prahalad, C.K. (2005) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, New Jersey: Wharton.

Safaricom (no date) ‘Our impact’ [online] <www.safaricom.co.ke/about/transforming-lives> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Safaricom (2015) Sustainability Report 2015, Nairobi: Safaricom.

Shaw, R. and Reed, D. (1999) Measuring and Valuing Business Relations, London: Business Intelligence.

Simanowitz, A. (2001) ‘Current trends in microfinance impact assessments’, Small Enterprise Development 12(4): 11–21 <https://doi.org/10.3362/0957-1329.2001.042>.

Spenner, P. and Freeman, K. (2012) ‘To keep your customers, keep it simple’, Harvard Business Review, May 2012 [online] <https://hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Thomas, D. (2014) ‘Africa’s digital money heads to Europe’, Financial Times, 30 March 2014 [online] <www.ft.com/content/736dd03e-b688-11e3-b230-00144feabdc0> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wallis, W. (2016) ‘Smart Africa: smartphones pave way for huge opportunities’, Financial Times, 26 January 2016 [online] <https://www.ft.com/content/aba818a6-c392-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wilburn, M. (2007) Managing the Customer Experience, Milwaukee, WI: Asq Publishers.

World Bank (2012) Information and Communications for Development, Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2018) ‘Poverty: overview’ [online] <www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Agarwal, R., Green, R., Roos, G. and Selen, W. (eds) (2015) The Handbook of Service Innovation, London: Springer-Verlag.

Alexander., J. and Hordes, M. (2003) Reinventing the Services Organization, New York, NY: Select Books Inc.

Austin, J. (2000) The Collaboration Challenge, How Nonprofits and Businesses Succeed through Strategic Alliances, San Francisco, CA: Drucker Foundation.

Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2012) Poor Economics, New York, NY: Centre for Microfinance.

Chapleau, S. (2013) Green Elephants, Montreal: Green Elephant Books.

Collica, R. (2011) Customer Segmentation and Clustering, North Carolina: SAS Institute.

Fallon, N. (2014) ‘Customer service done right: 5 best practices’, Business News Daily, 17 October 2014 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7306-customer-service-best-practices.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) (2009) Mobile Payments in Kenya, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

FSD (2013) FinAccess National Survey, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

Financial Times (2015) ‘FT Series Democratising finance: simple phone technology promises to revolutionise access to finance’, Financial Times, 30 January 2015: 14.

Fitzgerald, C. (2014) ‘Inbound marketing: the 4 stages of engagement’, Target Marketing Magazine, 1 May 2014.

Gerbasi, A. and Latusek, D. (2010) Trust and Technology in a Ubiquitous Modern Environment, New York, NY: IGI Global.

Govindarajan, V. and Trimble, J. (2012) Reverse Innovation, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Herstatt, C. and Tiwari, R. (2012) ‘Frugal innovation: a global networks’ perspective’, Die Unternehmung – Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice 3: 245–274.

Knorringa, P. and Leliveld, A. (eds) (2018) ‘Frugal innovation’, special issue of the European Journal of Development Research 30(1).

Lal, R. and Sachdev, I. (2015) Mobile Money Services, Design and Development for Financial Inclusion, Harvard Working Paper 15-083, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

Ledgerwood, J. (2006) Transforming Microfinance Institutions, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Marr, B. and Neely, A. (2004) Managing and Measuring for Value: The Case of Call Centre Performance, Cranfield: Cranfield University.

Mas, I. and Ngweno, A. (2010) Three Keys to M-Pesa’s Success, Seattle, WA: Gates Foundation.

McCaffrey, M., Anthony, L., Lee, A., Githachuri, K. and Wright, G. (2014) Agent Network Accelerator Survey: Kenya Country Report, Nairobi: Helix Institute of Digital Finance.

Mehta, K. and Realini, C. (2015) Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Victoria, BC: Friesen Press.

Mullainathan, S. and Shafir, E. (2013) Scarcity, New York, NY: Times Books.

Paljug, K. (2018) ‘How to reach your target customer’, Business News Daily, 20 September 2018 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8714-know-target-customer.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Peelen, E. (2005) Customer Relation Management, Harlow: Pearson.

Prahalad, C.K. (2005) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, New Jersey: Wharton.

Safaricom (no date) ‘Our impact’ [online] <www.safaricom.co.ke/about/transforming-lives> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Safaricom (2015) Sustainability Report 2015, Nairobi: Safaricom.

Shaw, R. and Reed, D. (1999) Measuring and Valuing Business Relations, London: Business Intelligence.

Simanowitz, A. (2001) ‘Current trends in microfinance impact assessments’, Small Enterprise Development 12(4): 11–21 <https://doi.org/10.3362/0957-1329.2001.042>.

Spenner, P. and Freeman, K. (2012) ‘To keep your customers, keep it simple’, Harvard Business Review, May 2012 [online] <https://hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Thomas, D. (2014) ‘Africa’s digital money heads to Europe’, Financial Times, 30 March 2014 [online] <www.ft.com/content/736dd03e-b688-11e3-b230-00144feabdc0> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wallis, W. (2016) ‘Smart Africa: smartphones pave way for huge opportunities’, Financial Times, 26 January 2016 [online] <https://www.ft.com/content/aba818a6-c392-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wilburn, M. (2007) Managing the Customer Experience, Milwaukee, WI: Asq Publishers.

World Bank (2012) Information and Communications for Development, Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2018) ‘Poverty: overview’ [online] <www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Agarwal, R., Green, R., Roos, G. and Selen, W. (eds) (2015) The Handbook of Service Innovation, London: Springer-Verlag.

Alexander., J. and Hordes, M. (2003) Reinventing the Services Organization, New York, NY: Select Books Inc.

Austin, J. (2000) The Collaboration Challenge, How Nonprofits and Businesses Succeed through Strategic Alliances, San Francisco, CA: Drucker Foundation.

Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2012) Poor Economics, New York, NY: Centre for Microfinance.

Chapleau, S. (2013) Green Elephants, Montreal: Green Elephant Books.

Collica, R. (2011) Customer Segmentation and Clustering, North Carolina: SAS Institute.

Fallon, N. (2014) ‘Customer service done right: 5 best practices’, Business News Daily, 17 October 2014 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7306-customer-service-best-practices.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) (2009) Mobile Payments in Kenya, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

FSD (2013) FinAccess National Survey, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

Financial Times (2015) ‘FT Series Democratising finance: simple phone technology promises to revolutionise access to finance’, Financial Times, 30 January 2015: 14.

Fitzgerald, C. (2014) ‘Inbound marketing: the 4 stages of engagement’, Target Marketing Magazine, 1 May 2014.

Gerbasi, A. and Latusek, D. (2010) Trust and Technology in a Ubiquitous Modern Environment, New York, NY: IGI Global.

Govindarajan, V. and Trimble, J. (2012) Reverse Innovation, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Herstatt, C. and Tiwari, R. (2012) ‘Frugal innovation: a global networks’ perspective’, Die Unternehmung – Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice 3: 245–274.

Knorringa, P. and Leliveld, A. (eds) (2018) ‘Frugal innovation’, special issue of the European Journal of Development Research 30(1).

Lal, R. and Sachdev, I. (2015) Mobile Money Services, Design and Development for Financial Inclusion, Harvard Working Paper 15-083, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

Ledgerwood, J. (2006) Transforming Microfinance Institutions, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Marr, B. and Neely, A. (2004) Managing and Measuring for Value: The Case of Call Centre Performance, Cranfield: Cranfield University.

Mas, I. and Ngweno, A. (2010) Three Keys to M-Pesa’s Success, Seattle, WA: Gates Foundation.

McCaffrey, M., Anthony, L., Lee, A., Githachuri, K. and Wright, G. (2014) Agent Network Accelerator Survey: Kenya Country Report, Nairobi: Helix Institute of Digital Finance.

Mehta, K. and Realini, C. (2015) Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Victoria, BC: Friesen Press.

Mullainathan, S. and Shafir, E. (2013) Scarcity, New York, NY: Times Books.

Paljug, K. (2018) ‘How to reach your target customer’, Business News Daily, 20 September 2018 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8714-know-target-customer.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Peelen, E. (2005) Customer Relation Management, Harlow: Pearson.

Prahalad, C.K. (2005) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, New Jersey: Wharton.

Safaricom (no date) ‘Our impact’ [online] <www.safaricom.co.ke/about/transforming-lives> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Safaricom (2015) Sustainability Report 2015, Nairobi: Safaricom.

Shaw, R. and Reed, D. (1999) Measuring and Valuing Business Relations, London: Business Intelligence.

Simanowitz, A. (2001) ‘Current trends in microfinance impact assessments’, Small Enterprise Development 12(4): 11–21 <https://doi.org/10.3362/0957-1329.2001.042>.

Spenner, P. and Freeman, K. (2012) ‘To keep your customers, keep it simple’, Harvard Business Review, May 2012 [online] <https://hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Thomas, D. (2014) ‘Africa’s digital money heads to Europe’, Financial Times, 30 March 2014 [online] <www.ft.com/content/736dd03e-b688-11e3-b230-00144feabdc0> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wallis, W. (2016) ‘Smart Africa: smartphones pave way for huge opportunities’, Financial Times, 26 January 2016 [online] <https://www.ft.com/content/aba818a6-c392-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wilburn, M. (2007) Managing the Customer Experience, Milwaukee, WI: Asq Publishers.

World Bank (2012) Information and Communications for Development, Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2018) ‘Poverty: overview’ [online] <www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Agarwal, R., Green, R., Roos, G. and Selen, W. (eds) (2015) The Handbook of Service Innovation, London: Springer-Verlag.

Alexander., J. and Hordes, M. (2003) Reinventing the Services Organization, New York, NY: Select Books Inc.

Austin, J. (2000) The Collaboration Challenge, How Nonprofits and Businesses Succeed through Strategic Alliances, San Francisco, CA: Drucker Foundation.

Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2012) Poor Economics, New York, NY: Centre for Microfinance.

Chapleau, S. (2013) Green Elephants, Montreal: Green Elephant Books.

Collica, R. (2011) Customer Segmentation and Clustering, North Carolina: SAS Institute.

Fallon, N. (2014) ‘Customer service done right: 5 best practices’, Business News Daily, 17 October 2014 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7306-customer-service-best-practices.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) (2009) Mobile Payments in Kenya, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

FSD (2013) FinAccess National Survey, Nairobi: Central Bank of Kenya/FSD.

Financial Times (2015) ‘FT Series Democratising finance: simple phone technology promises to revolutionise access to finance’, Financial Times, 30 January 2015: 14.

Fitzgerald, C. (2014) ‘Inbound marketing: the 4 stages of engagement’, Target Marketing Magazine, 1 May 2014.

Gerbasi, A. and Latusek, D. (2010) Trust and Technology in a Ubiquitous Modern Environment, New York, NY: IGI Global.

Govindarajan, V. and Trimble, J. (2012) Reverse Innovation, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Herstatt, C. and Tiwari, R. (2012) ‘Frugal innovation: a global networks’ perspective’, Die Unternehmung – Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice 3: 245–274.

Knorringa, P. and Leliveld, A. (eds) (2018) ‘Frugal innovation’, special issue of the European Journal of Development Research 30(1).

Lal, R. and Sachdev, I. (2015) Mobile Money Services, Design and Development for Financial Inclusion, Harvard Working Paper 15-083, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

Ledgerwood, J. (2006) Transforming Microfinance Institutions, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Marr, B. and Neely, A. (2004) Managing and Measuring for Value: The Case of Call Centre Performance, Cranfield: Cranfield University.

Mas, I. and Ngweno, A. (2010) Three Keys to M-Pesa’s Success, Seattle, WA: Gates Foundation.

McCaffrey, M., Anthony, L., Lee, A., Githachuri, K. and Wright, G. (2014) Agent Network Accelerator Survey: Kenya Country Report, Nairobi: Helix Institute of Digital Finance.

Mehta, K. and Realini, C. (2015) Financial Inclusion at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Victoria, BC: Friesen Press.

Mullainathan, S. and Shafir, E. (2013) Scarcity, New York, NY: Times Books.

Paljug, K. (2018) ‘How to reach your target customer’, Business News Daily, 20 September 2018 [online] <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8714-know-target-customer.html> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Peelen, E. (2005) Customer Relation Management, Harlow: Pearson.

Prahalad, C.K. (2005) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, New Jersey: Wharton.

Safaricom (no date) ‘Our impact’ [online] <www.safaricom.co.ke/about/transforming-lives> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Safaricom (2015) Sustainability Report 2015, Nairobi: Safaricom.

Shaw, R. and Reed, D. (1999) Measuring and Valuing Business Relations, London: Business Intelligence.

Simanowitz, A. (2001) ‘Current trends in microfinance impact assessments’, Small Enterprise Development 12(4): 11–21 <https://doi.org/10.3362/0957-1329.2001.042>.

Spenner, P. and Freeman, K. (2012) ‘To keep your customers, keep it simple’, Harvard Business Review, May 2012 [online] <https://hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Thomas, D. (2014) ‘Africa’s digital money heads to Europe’, Financial Times, 30 March 2014 [online] <www.ft.com/content/736dd03e-b688-11e3-b230-00144feabdc0> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wallis, W. (2016) ‘Smart Africa: smartphones pave way for huge opportunities’, Financial Times, 26 January 2016 [online] <https://www.ft.com/content/aba818a6-c392-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e> [accessed 30 January 2019].

Wilburn, M. (2007) Managing the Customer Experience, Milwaukee, WI: Asq Publishers.

World Bank (2012) Information and Communications for Development, Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2018) ‘Poverty: overview’ [online] <www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview> [accessed 30 January 2019].