Trustworthy mobile transactions: A longitudinal study of M-PESA in Kenya

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This chapter will focus on one vital determinant of m-banking adoption and use-trust relations. It presents the case of M-PESA, an m-banking application that quickly achieved a remarkable local embeddedness in large segments of Kenyan society. Data for this case was gathered during a fourteen month ethnographic study that took place in two locations-one urban and one rural. The chapter identifies four categories of trust (interpersonal, extended, presumptive, institutional) that were a prerequisite for mobile banking, and a lubricant for its sustainability and growth. It shows that institutional trust relations were strong during the early stages of adoption whilst the interpersonal ones were weak. This means that customers trusted Safaricom, the mobile service provider offering M-PESA. They did not, however, trust the agents that facilitated cash in and cash out. The chapter also gives attention to the changing nature of these relations through time. For example, it shows that interpersonal trust relations between customers and agents strengthened with increased interaction. The chapter concludes by identifying areas for future research and delineating recommendations for managers. © 2010, IGI Global.