Strategic responses adopted by Safaricom limited in Kenya to address fraud related challenges in the M-pesa service
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Date
2012-11Author
Ndungu, Damaris M
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Prior studies have found that failure to actively combat fraudulent activity affects
organization reputation negatively. At the time of study, only two studies were found that
focused on strategic responses adopted by banks in Kenya to counter increasing fraud
risks. There was no study that was found focusing on strategic responses adopted by
mobile money transfer operators to combat fraud. This is despite the ever increasing
cases of fraudulent activity reported by mobile money transfer users and thus calling for
strategic responses to curb the spread of the crime. The study generally sought to
determine the strategic responses adopted by Safaricom limited in Kenya to address fraud
related challenges in the M-PESA service. This was a case study since the unit of analysis
was one organization. Primary data was collected using an interview guide which
contained open-ended questions. Content analysis was then used to present the data. The
information was presented in a continuous prose. The study found that fraud is very
sensitive and that customers have an immense fear of falling victim to fraud. The study
established that Safaricom has encountered instances of customers using the M-PESA
service being defrauded. The study then found that hoax text messages, extortion
messages and customers conned to send money are the most prevalent fraud trends in the
mobile money transfer service. M-PESA agents were also found to have fallen victim to
fraudulent activity. The study found that the organization has dealt strategically with
these cases by monitoring transactions for any suspicious activity on a regular basis and
putting in place a fraud policy. The study recommends that the organization needs to
work closely with law enforcement agencies and various arms of government to come up
with policies and structures that deter future fraud incidences. The study further
recommends that more research needs to be done on new technological advances and
other strategic responses that could help in combating fraud more effectively.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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