In Kenya the government has decided that all SIM cards, pre-pay or otherwise, need to be registered. Their decision to do so is based on protecting the nation from illegal uses of telecommunications such as fraud or terrorism. However, in practice convincing consumers to take the time to register their SIM card is a pretty challenging order.

According to Business Daily, only 40% of Kenya’s 19 million mobile users have done so. However, Safaricom have registered 11.1 million of their customer base, of which 9.1 million are m-Pesa customers. This means that 82% of all SIM registrations are as a result of mobile money services in the case of Safaricom. Similar ration exists for Zain who have registered 60% of their subscriber base.

So it seems fair to say that an additional benefit of deploying mobile money systems, beyond bring consumers into the financial world, is an increased ability to apply the compliance checks carried out in the formal financial services system. While this argument is not new, Kenya highlights the challenges a government will face in trying to convince consumers to register their details for pre-pay mobile accounts. Clearly mobile money provides an incentive to do so.