You probably already know that M-Pesa is the king of mobile money services. What you might not be aware of is that in the third quarter of 2019 alone, 655.95 million of Kenya’s 810.9 million mobile money transactions happened via the nation’s leading mobile finance app.

Indeed, M-Pesa has become such a crucial part of developing the global transition towards using digital cash. In order to fully understand the current role of this game-changing app in the foreign exchange market, we first need to take a closer look at how it fits into the disruptive fintech sector.

The Rise of Digital Payment Apps

In the last couple of years, mobile and digital payment channels have been growing in popularity throughout the world.

In the western world, apps like PayPal One Touch and Apple Pay have set consumer standards and raised expectations for both security and convenience in mobile payments. The resulting surge in confidence with digital payment methods has, in turn, spurred newcomers to join the digital currency game.

For instance, Petal Card is a new credit card and financing app that wants to make it easier for consumers with zero credit history to raise their scores. Meanwhile, other apps like Venmo and Zelle are designed for sending money to family and friends—a more social approach to fintech compared to most other prominent digital payment platforms.

In Kenya, M-Pesa had already achieved mainstream popularity even before most of the aforementioned apps and platforms saw mass use.

The Global Financial Impact of M-Pesa

Through M-Pesa, Kenya became the world leader in mobile payments back in 2015. Despite the nation’s low ranking in the world economy, at the time, it was already easier to pay for a taxi through a mobile phone in Nairobi, the country’s capital, than in places like London, Hong Kong, or New York.

While the world’s fintech developers have since caught up to M-Pesa, Kenya’s mobile payments king has already made an indelible mark on world finance.

In 2018, Kenya’s first regulated online forex broker—EGM Securities—allowed Kenyans to use M-Pesa and other mobile payment channels to participate in the global forex market.

Today, apart from the few locally registered forex brokers, many other brokerage firms now accept transactions through M-Pesa. This includes some of the most prominent names in the forex trading industry, such as XM Group, Tickmill, OctaFX, Plus500, and many others.

How Do I Use M-Pesa to Start Forex Trading?

Aspiring traders can start by picking a forex broker or brokerage firm, which can connect them to the rest of the market. In this article on How to Choose the Right Tools for Forex Trading, we explained that you need to select the right platform for trading currencies online.

Nowadays, nearly all brokerage firms offer mobile platforms for making trades, which will make it easier to integrate your M-Pesa with your new brokerage account. Using M-Pesa and managing all your trading through one mobile device can greatly simplify the way you trade, which in turn may improve your chances of success.

The more you can simplify your trading and eliminate complicated transactions, the better you can focus on gleaning trading insights from the news, charts, signals, or indicators from which you can develop your trading strategies.

On the other hand, if you prefer the flexibility of trading via a web-based platform that’s not confined to one device, you can choose to do so and still integrate your M-Pesa account for managing money transfers to and from your brokerage account.

By using M-Pesa as a forex trading tool, you’ll be joining the growing number of forex traders from Kenya, Afghanistan, Tanzania, India, South Africa, and other countries throughout the world who are realizing the convenience of streamlining brokerage payments through the innovative East Africa’s mobile payments technology.

Your forex broker of choice can tell you more about the specific steps you need to take to pay for your account via M-Pesa.

M-Pesa Beyond Forex

Recently, Kenyan telecom company Safaricom and South Africa’s Vodacom gained full ownership of M-Pesa from the UK’s Vodafone—one of its original developers.

In a statement explaining the acquisition, the two African companies said that the joint venture is aimed at having full control over the M-Pesa brand and accelerate the development of the tech for new local markets.

For the foreseeable future, it’s safe to say that M-Pesa will continue to be a leading disruptor not just in the forex markets, but also in the global development of fintech itself.

Do you agree?