Healthcare is emerging as a key target segment in Africa and other emerging markets for mobile payment

Print

Email

Mobile payments have been growing significantly in emerging markets such as Africa and Middle Eastern countries in past couple of years. Transaction value of mobile payments in this region amounts to USD 44 billion in 2016 and transaction value per user is USD 6.9. This has been propelled by increased usage of affordable smartphones, improved infrastructure for mobile internet and favorable regulations. Mobile payments have become a convenient method of bill payment and fund transfer in this region. Currently, major players are targeting healthcare segment to drive revenue growth.

Health wallet M-Tiba was launched in partnership with PharmAccess Foundation, CarePay and telecom operator Safaricom at Brussels on in June 2016. The service has been initiated by Pfizer Foundation and it uses bank transfer platform, M-Pesa technology. M-Tiba has been initially rolled out outside Nairobi in Kisumu, Siaya and Mombasa. Currently, it has 45,000 registered users and partnership with 60 healthcare service providers. Around 2000 clinics had signed up for it prior to the launch. Testing of M-Tiba was jointly performed by PharmAccess and Amref Health Africa, which is a medical research foundation based out of Kenya. Pfizer Foundation has funded initial bonus scheme in which first 1 million users who deposit USD 0.99 or more per month will receive a monthly bonus of USD 0.49 for 12 months. As an additional benefit, UAP Old Mutual Health Insurance is providing accident cover for the main user and spouse for a value of USD 80. Fund transfer feature was added to the wallet in September 2016.

Transaction value for mobile payments is expected to grow to USD 165 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 39% from 2016 in Africa and Middle East. User count is expected to grow to 15.2 million during the same period. This shows positive prospect of mobile payment expansion across various segments, healthcare being a new approach. This initiative is at a nascent stage with very few players presenting profitable opportunities for other platforms in terms of business expansion and stable revenue generation. However, a major challenge lies in areas where network connections are weak. Telecom service providers are likely to play a key role in this case.

To know more and gain deeper understanding of mobile payment industry in Kenya, click here.