Custom «Mobile Money» Essay Paper

Mobile money is an upcoming service in many nations due to its effective means of providing their consumers with financial matters. People do not need to make long lines to withdraw or to deposit cash in their account. The most important thing is that the subscriber will be in a position to access money easily within the shortest time possible. In this paper, we shall discuss how Vodaphone UK among other mobile phone networks can adopt the idea of mobile money. In addition, we shall analyze the impacts of this project and find the right solutions in order to make the project a success. Political, social, economical and technological factors play a huge role while preparing to administer this project. Therefore, a good buying organization centre should be involved when it comes to decision making. Different categories of departments and stakeholders should be involved while they analyze the different aspects named above. In addition, training is a vital aspect that should be included in the process. Customer service delivery is vital in the telecommunication industry. Therefore, the customer service staff should be well trained in order to deliver service that is appropriate in attracting many subscribers when the system picks in the end. There are issues of financial challenges that should be addressed in the budgeting category. This will make it easier to know how the project can be handled and when it can be implemented depending on the financial status of the economy. Overall, the reader will be able to understand how the system works, however the biggest challenge will be on the mobile network owners. They will have to invest in the best software engineers to avoid hacking of the servers and stealing the company’s money. 

•  

  0

  Preparing Orders

•  

  0

  Active Writers

•  

  0%

  Positive Feedback

•  

  0

  Support Agents

 

Title of your paper

Type of service

Type of assignment

Number of pages

-

+

Academic level

Timeframes

Spacing

Currency

USD

• Total price

Continue to order

 

Mobile Money

Technology advancement has been tremendous in the 21^st century. Many innovations and inventions have been in place that makes life easier for people. Technology in the communication sector has improved such that people can be able to communicate via mobile phones, send picture messages or have video calls unless one is connected to the internet. Therefore, such kinds of technological enhancements have not only made life easier but have encouraged economic empowerment in most countries.

United Kingdom is one of the countries that have adopted various technologies using the mobile phone. Currently, considering the large population a new, ideology on mobile money transfer has been identified and can be used to make issues of transferring money easier. Kenya is one of the countries that introduced the idea of mobile money, which Kenyan locally refers to as M-Pesa. When the technology picked up and was efficient, other countries adopted the idea. In this case mobile money transfer is a system whereby transactions can be made via phones. In this kind of transaction, the mobile owner or the person who is in participating in the transaction does not have to access a bank account. There are only three things that one should have, an active phone, a registered simcard or line, and money. Therefore, throughout the paper, the reader will understand how the concept works with its advantages and disadvantages. 

Before a company can start mobile money exploration, it is important to understand the kind of people in the area of concern. In this case, UK is a developed country with millions of people living within. Considering two states that are England and Wales, updated by 2012, the population was 56.1 million(2011 Census - population and household estimates for england and wales, march 2011 n.d., p.1) It was discovered that among the 56.1 million, most people were above 65 years. That means that out of every six people, one was aged 65 or above. When considering Wales alone, it was noted that there was a population of 3.1 million by July 2012 when the statistical data was updated. This group comprises of men, women, youth and children. When analyzing such a huge market it is vital to consider how many people appreciate using phones in this area.

Phone use in UK

In the UK people, most people have phones that use Global System for Mobile Communications networks, to avoid being charged roaming fees (Hanzo 2008, para. 1). There are various mobile phone networks in the UK, for example Vodaphone, O2 , T- Mobile orange mobile and Tesco mobile (Sung 2010, para. 8). Among these networks, Vodaphone is appreciated by many people. Its coverage is good as it can be accesses in 85 % of UK. In addition, other countries use the same network. This makes it easier to communicate internationally and locally at an affordable rate. In addition to its coverage is the fact that its speed is fast and consistent. Under rare occasions, can one get network traffic unless the company’s server has a problem. Such basic network infrastructure is important for a company that tends to carry out mobile money transaction.

When planning to start mobile money services there is, need to identify the target market. Initially, it was proven that a higher percentage of people in the UK are 65 years and above. This age bracket consists of people who have retired and are not so energetic to stand in long ques in banks in order to deposit money or withdraw money. As discussed earlier it is important to note that, this innovation does not need a person to have a bank account. The people undertaking the transaction need to have a phone, and an identification card. The person who is making sending the money will have to go to a mobile money agent (in this case it is Vodaphone) and produce a valid identity card. Then the mobile money agent will use his verified phone to deposit money given to him by the client to his phone then send it the client’s phone. Depositing money should be free always. When the client who deposited money receives a message in his phone that confirms that the money deposited has been transferred to his mobile account he will follow procedure required for sending money to the person he want. This process will help old people access money easily and quickly from their loved once without having to undergo the procedure of bank ques. In addition, in case the person who has received the many cannot reach the mobile money agent due to personal reasons, he can send someone he trusts with his valid identification card or a driver’s license and give the person who will withdraw money the accounts pin number and he will be allowed to make the transaction.  In the end, the system will be advantageous to people who are busy and want to get money quickly (Jack & Suri 2011, p.2). In addition, the target market includes the young who are always busy and may get emergencies anytime of the day or night. Unlike banks that work during the day only unless one wants to withdraw money via an ATM, mobile money agents have no work limit. The agent can work as long as she/he wants because the network coverage is always on 24 hours. For example, most young people like going for parties. They may run short of money wherever they are and they may not be in a position to access an ATM around a club. Therefore, they can look for a mobile money agent, withdraw money, and use it for the night’s expense.

It is vital to consider the financial status of a country to determine if they are economically stable. Understanding and analyzing different levels of income of the people is vital in helping the company analyze the minimum amount of transaction fee that can be used to make different kinds of transactions. The reason being, mobile money agents must be in a position to have a given amount in their bank accounts to be in a position to carry out the transactions. For example, by 2011, the medium income salary of full time workers in the UK is £26,244 per year (Wages throughout the country: how does your area compare? n.d., para.3). This means that, the country is stable enough financially and can be able to sustain a number of agents in terms of issuing money to the subscribers. Therefore, these are some of the market trends that the mobile company should analyze in order to understand the level of transactions that can be levied on the clients and agents.

Budgeting requirements

Loan requirements

The project will inquire a significant amount of money to sustain those who will work in installing the new system. Some of the factors that will determine the loan include money to pay engineers, buying products that will be used for the installation process, money to train customer service representatives on how to handle the mobile service queries. An approximate value of £46,244 million will be required to meet the above named costs and others to make sure that the project becomes successful. These factors are the once that will determine the transaction cost to be levied on the people in order to help in paying back the loan with interests.

Transaction costs

Before undertaking any project, a company should be able to estimate the value of the project and have a clear picture of the returns it may get in the near future. In this case, there are certain things that the Vodaphone should consider. Fixed cost and variable costs should be discussed by stakeholders of the company to determine how effective they will be in case the projects runs along well. Fixed cost can be implemented while sending money to a person through mobile transaction. On the other side, variable transactions costs can be implemented depending on the amount that will be withdrawn.

Sample of Transaction Range, Type, and Customer Charge (£) 

Global financial climate

Considering the fact that the project will require a lot of money to in order to be implemented it means that, the country should be stable in that the vodaphone mobile company may be in a position to get back the money it used during the implementation process. In this case, UK has been having economic instability issues since 2010. Many people have been laid of work meaning that the countries financial issues within the country were at risk. In addition, the economic stability affected other countries with strong currency value like USA. Such incidents can affect a projects development. Such a time can affect the time delivery of products and the volume of products to be used while the project is in its initial stages. Some countries that provide the equipments for use may be affected financially, and may end up bridging a contract due to insufficient funds to deliver the products on time. Therefore, it is urgent that, the company that is planning to undertake the project should critically analyze the most appropriate time to initiate the project so as not to run a loss.

Business centre organization

The stakeholders who are responsible for this project should indulge in a series of research before making any necessary conclusions. For example, decision on the company that should implement the project first should be efficient in service delivery and ready for changes to take place within the organization. In addition, the decision on product delivery by various supplier, should be selective either bulk stock or in time delivery. Therefore, such factors will help an organization determine how the project delivery will be and the duration it will take to implement and sustain the project.

Features of phones and Simcards

Mobile money transfer is expected to have certain procedures that will be followed by the agents and the mobile money users. In this case, there is no special phone entitled for use while undertaking the transaction process. However, the simcard should be modified to have certain features that are responsible for transaction purposes. For example, the telecommunication engineers can include features like,

When addressing such issues it is notable that the customer service personnel should be trained well enough to be in a position to answer several queries that the public may have before they may adopt into the system(Want to improve customer service? treat your employees better 2012, para 4). Companies that have exemplary customer services have higher chances of making more sales, retaining customers and attracting more customers. Therefore, the project manager should include this important investment in the scope of the project (Good customer service – the essence of success n.d., para 7). If the customer service staff understands the idea, behind project, they will automatically convince the subscribers to stick to the system and in the end; the company will gain more subscribers and sales.

While preparing this project it is vital to note that the team player are entitled to be creative in their implementation. After critically analyzing different aspects, it is important, that the team use a creative measure of attracting subscribers. Research alone cannot do the organization any good unless; much creativity is adopted to make the system work accordingly (Lee 2011, p.5).

It is also important to study the occurrence of competition and the impacts it may create to the company in case the technology is adopted by other telecommunication companies. Subtitutes like ATMs may be important to some extent as they can be merged with the company and come up with an effective way of transacting money (Rosingh, Seale & Osborn 2001, para.4). On the contrary, other mobile companies can substitute vodaphone after adopting the system in the long run, and can use various methods like lower transaction rates to outcompete the existing mobile money transfer system( Kumar &  Mino 2011, para.4).

In order to make the whole process of mobile money efficient and reliable to the company, a SCM process should be considered. Software Configuration Management (SCM) process helps in handling various changes in software projects that will be useful to the system (Traditional software configuration management process n.d., para.1). The reason being, mobile money is delicate and hackers can do anything in order to benefit. Therefore, a proper configuration of the server should be determined by the engineering team that will be managed closely to avoid any hacking issues that can affect the company and the subscribers.

In conclusion, mobile money development process is a project, which requires the project manager with his team to be critical, and creative in every step they make. In order to achieve sustainability, proper training of the customer service is required. The subscribers should be convincing that their money will be safe and the company will be accountable in case they do not provide proper services and money is lost in the process. Therefore, financial analysts within the company should make it a point that they balance the system appropriately and in case of any problem, they should inform the public before carrying out any maintenance or upgrading issues. In the end, the subscribers will trust them and they will use the service, more which in turn will increase the company’s sales.