Internet and Mobile payment

Internet and Mobile payment
Emergency of mobile phones especially smartphones made a graet revolution to the virtual community.  This discovery made the increasing of internet uses due to the portability of smart phone and the accessibility of such internet. Alexander Bell was the first person who discovered phones.  But his discovery was only based on the connection of people via calling and messaging.
Nowadays mobile are used as banks, that is people now can preserve,  send,  pay,  withdraw the money through their mobile phones. This is a great revolution to the virtual community.  It is well accepted and understood that internet made the simplicity of connectivity where by people can nowadays conduct business through internet while the are far in between.  Example of mobile banking particularly in Tanzania is m-pesa,  tigo pesa,  airtel money, halo pesa, easy pesa and sim banking.
Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer, and mobile wallet generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cash, cheque, or credit cards, a consumer can use a mobile phone to pay for a wide range of services and digital or hard goods. Although the concept of using non-coin-based currency systems has a long history, it is only recently that the technology to support such systems has become widely available.

Mobile payment is being adopted all over the world in different ways.  In 2008, the combined market for all types of mobile payments was projected to reach more than $600B globally by 2013,  which would be double the figure as of February, 2011. The mobile payment market for goods and services, excluding contactless Near field communication or NFC transactions and money transfers, is expected to exceed $300B globally by 2013.

In developing countries mobile payment solutions have been deployed as a means of extending financial services to the community known as the "unbanked" or "underbanked," which is estimated to be as much as 50% of the world's adult population, according to Financial Access' 2009 Report "Half the World is Unbanked". These payment networks are often used for micropayments. The use of mobile payments in developing countries has attracted public and private funding by organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United States Agency for International Development and Mercy Corps.
By msele musa
BAPRM 42626