Abstract:
Mobile service operators in Kenya rolled out cross-network mobile money transfer services in the year 2018 intending to increase the penetration of mobile financial services in the country due to reduced costs and increased financial flexibility. The operators anticipated it to be of great benefit to Small business traders owing to the recent increase in the number of participants who utilize mobile money transfer facilities in their routine business functions, processes, and activities. However, the uptake of the service has remained low as MPesa continues to dominate the mobile money market where its share stands at 81.6% as of 30th September 2018. The objective of this study, therefore, was to assess technological characteristics influencing the adoption decisions of cross-network mobile money transfer service by SME traders in Murang’a municipality using descriptive survey design. Primary data was obtained through questionnaires from a sample size of 250 participants using purposeful sampling design. The analysis of data was done to obtain useful information for communication by using descriptive statistics. The results found out that the adoption rate of cross-network mobile money transfer service was very low as only 36 % of the respondents had adopted the service at the time of the survey. The rest of the respondents (64%) had not adopted the service due to unawareness, lack of agent interoperability, loyalty and exclusive trust in M-Pesa, network challenges, and limited access by customers to other mobile operator’s retail outlets. All the respondents agreed that technological characteristics influenced their decision to adopt the service. The study also established that the adoption of cross-network mobile money transfer service had escalated the performance of the businesses as revealed by a majority of respondents (71%). The study recommends that SMEs traders adopt cross-network mobile money transfer because of its positive impact on business performance. To increase the rate of adoption of the service, the study recommends that policymakers introduce interoperability at the agent level and conduct aggressive marketing to attract more customers. To increase financial inclusivity in the country the study recommends that the service providers raise transaction limits of mobile money to attract more users in Kenya. There is also a need to review transaction costs downwards
