LETTERS: Interoperability is up and functioning

My attention is drawn to an opinion piece by Naomi Thoiya that ran in the October 7,2018 edition of the Business Daily newspaper on the push for greater mobile money interoperability. While the author raises pertinent issues on total inclusion in the quest for mobile money interoperability, it is worth noting that there are certain areas that required further clarifiers.

The latest step in mobile money interoperability did away with USSD activation as evidenced in the T-Kash/M-Pesa partnership and the widely advertised partnership shows that it is in actualization.

For the author to claim that mobile operators have tied interoperability singly to USSD is a largely misguided notion and an attempt, I would assume, to throw cold water at the steps being taken to widen mobile money interoperability.

If the author has been following the debates on interoperability, then she would be aware that SIM kit transfers are already in the pipeline and being tested. Remember, this is not something that can be done in a single day, considering the sums of money being transferred! Currently, discussions are ongoing to enable agent interoperability.

It has been less than a year since interoperability went live, and the claims on agent interoperability by the writer are neither here nor there, since as is, and as per the World Bank white paper, platform level interoperability and customer level interoperability are here with us (again the T-Kash -M-Pesa example) and agent level interoperability is a step coming. Bear in mind, we have different operators and different banks involved, such that a multi-stakeholder discussion and agreement has to be in place for it to be initiated.

All the three levels of mobile money interoperability can and will be actualized, and while the author notes that banks are involved, she conveniently forgets that mobile money is not a sole CA responsibility and that CBK and banks are involved.

Due regulatory procedures have been followed. Once the regulator has achieved his bit, then it is upon the commercial entities involved to actualize it to completion! Who would accept to open up float account when due process has not been finalized? It would be insensible to open up, say, KCB accounts to Equity bank without regulatory frameworks in place! These frameworks are what’s being worked on!

Lastly, it is upon market dictates to initiate uptake of mobile money interoperability. It is upon the consumer to decide which service to use. Lest she forgets, we have had similar debates as pertains SIM porting, and we all know how it went.

In this debate, let us also consider investment in infrastructure and the levels of penetration, since, we cannot have a situation being discussed where business practices are not queried.

Which business wants to have competitors riding on their investment? Which business ethic and competitive queries are those even? These debates and participation should be broad enough and all inclusive before throwing in wet patches on the progress of interoperability so far.

Let us have a sober discussion on interoperability, an informed thought provoking debate would be worth instead of misguiding the general populace with aspersions.

Rosalie Mutuku, via email