I have mentioned Safaricom in this blog several times as an example of a classic disruptive leader and touted their M-Pesa text-based payment system as a game-changing service targeting the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). But a recent article in the International Herald Times showcases the challenges this service and others face. In truth, any project, product, or service that needs to tap into an emerging market banking infrastructure faces significant hurtles.
These include regulatory compliance, the banks’ reluctance to open their back-end systems to other companies’ technologies, and overall complexity of implementing these services. According to the article, Visa and Mastercard are aware of the opportunity and watching on the sidelines.
Disruptive Leadership 