# M-PESA 10 Hacker News commenters recommended M-PESA and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend M-PESA as a mobile money system that let people send cash by SMS and transfer money without bank accounts, built for African conditions; critics point to high transaction fees. ## Why people recommend it - Works without bank accounts (3 comments): "wireless micro-financing without transaction fees works for 10 African countries and is enabling a rural energy revolution" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45832100)) "They have instead been solved by mobile-phone-based systems like Mpesa in Kenya and neighbouring countries." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50312886)) "a mobile money platform that let people transfer cash via SMS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45827718)) - Built for African realities (2 comments): "M-Pesa succeeded because it was built FOR African realities, not DESPITE them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46845746)) "MPESA was and is still an incredible product. A real lightning-in-a-bottle moment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45832036)) ## What people warn about - Transaction fees are high (1 comments): "The M-PESA transaction fees are high." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45828174)) - Not interoperable across providers (1 comments): "It's not really a federated system because you can't for instance send money from mpesa in kenya to a different provider in uganda." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48208202)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Wero](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wero.md): 84 recommend - [Apple Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-pay.md): 73 recommend - [Google Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-pay.md): 26 recommend - [Google Wallet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-wallet.md): 22 recommend - [Curve Pay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/curve.md): 22 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "M-PESA", https://hackerapproved.com/p/m-pesa/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).