Vodacom’s M-Pesa mobile money service has about one million users signed up in South Africa but its active user base is “disappointing” says Nedbank, the operator’s banking partner, according to TechCentral. The M-Pesa service has not grown as fast as the bank hoped, says Fred Swanepoel, Nedbank’s chief information officer.

However, Swanepoel says Nedbank “remains committed” to M-Pesa in South Africa and hopes it will become more popular with improvements to the service such as a pre-paid card and the capability to withdraw at point-of-sale terminals in retail stores, as well as a speedier registration process.

Vodacom has seen faster growth for M-Pesa in Tanzania and obviously the same service has proved a massive success in Kenya where it is offered by Safaricom under licence from Vodafone.