ABSTRACT

M-PESA is the world’s leading mobile money system which supports the person-to-person transfer of money. While the institutional meaning of M-PESA concerning financial inclusion and market access is well documented, the meaning attached to M-PESA by users, particularly in rural communities, has received less attention. This study examines the meaning of M-PESA to the rural poor in villages in Busia County, Western Kenya using the approach of poetic inquiry in which the expressions of local people are rendered as poetry in order to draw out affective and lived experience. A reading of the poems of seven participants reveals the perception of M-PESA as a means of empowerment for women, alignment with their social identity and access to education. This contrasts sharply with the meaning of M-PESA as seen by commercial and non-commercial institutions which focuses on connecting the unbanked to formal banking systems and the exploitation of M-PESA as a primary revenue stream. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for regulation which is delicately balanced between independence from institutional control and the exposure of the rural poor to exploitation.

摘要

M-PESA 是世界领先的移动货币系统，支持个人对个人的转账。虽然 M-PESA 在金融普惠和市场准入方面的制度意义有据可查，但用户，尤其是农村社区的用户赋予 M-PESA 的意义却很少受到关注。本研究采用诗意探究的方法检验 M-PESA 对肯尼亚西部布西亚县农村贫困人口的意义，在这种方法中，当地人的表达被渲染成诗歌，以引出情感和生活经验。朗读七位参与者的诗歌揭示了 M-PESA 是赋予女性权力的一种方式，符合她们的社会身份和接受教育的机会。这与商业和非商业机构所看到的 M-PESA 的含义形成鲜明对比，商业和非商业机构侧重于将无银行账户与正规银行系统联系起来，并将 M-PESA 作为主要收入来源。该文件最后强调了监管的必要性，这种监管在不受制度控制的独立性和农村穷人遭受剥削的风险之间取得微妙的平衡。