M-Pesa, launched by Safaricom in Kenya in 2007, created the world's first mass-market mobile money system using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) and SIM Toolkit technology. The system allows any phone — including the most basic feature phones — to send money, pay bills, and access financial services without internet connectivity. By 2025, M-Pesa serves over 66 million active users across Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Ghana, Egypt, and Ethiopia, processing over $314 billion in annual transaction value.
The significance is civilizational. Before M-Pesa, 75% of Kenyan adults were unbanked. Within a decade, financial inclusion reached 83%. The World Bank estimates M-Pesa lifted 2% of Kenyan households above the poverty line. USSD handles over 70% of Africa's mobile money interactions in 2024, making it the continent's dominant financial infrastructure layer — running on a protocol that predates the smartphone era.
M-Pesa's architecture has been exported and adapted worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for two-thirds of global mobile money transactions. India's UPI, Southeast Asia's mobile wallets, and Latin American digital payment systems all trace design lineage back to M-Pesa's proof that phones can replace banks. The Kenyan government's decision not to regulate M-Pesa into oblivion was as important as the technology itself.