Mobile Money Services and Saving Culture: a Study of Individual Small Business Owners in Toi Market

Abstract

Recent technological advancements have resulted in access to mobile phones by majority of the adult population. A wide variety of mobile phone based financial services that have made it easier for individuals to transfer money affordably have consequently emerged. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of mobile money services on saving culture among individual small business owners in Toi Market, Nairobi County. The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population of the study comprises of 750 individual small business owners within Toi Market. The study adopted stratified random sampling to select 100 respondents and primary data collected using questionnaires. Collected data was analyzed through descriptive and regression statistics generated through SPSS. Multiple regression analysis was used to obtain the relationship between saving culture and mobile money services. The Analysis of Variance was used to determine the significance of the results. The study concluded that mobile money services had a positive and significant effect on saving culture among individual small business owners in Toi market. The study found that majority of respondents used mobile money services to place savings and that they valued the presence of a wide network of agents as well as the ease with which deposits could be made via mobile money services the most and this impacted on the level of savings held. The study recommended the need to develop more savings products that involved the use of mobile money agents as part of the service package and that the products get market tested to ensure they are easy for customers to us in placing deposits. The study also recommends that mobile money products empower customers with information to enable them to verify the transactions occurring relating to their mobile money savings.