M-PESA
Hacker ApprovedRanked 13 of 17 mobile payment apps by recommenders
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.
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.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 91%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 10 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works without bank accounts
“wireless micro-financing without transaction fees works for 10 African countries and is enabling a rural energy revolution”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Solarpunk is happening in Africa” “They have instead been solved by mobile-phone-based systems like Mpesa in Kenya and neighbouring countries.”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “The $6.3B Binance hack was pulled off in just 20 minutes” “a mobile money platform that let people transfer cash via SMS”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Solarpunk is happening in Africa” Built for African realities
“M-Pesa succeeded because it was built FOR African realities, not DESPITE them.”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 on Hacker News “MPESA was and is still an incredible product. A real lightning-in-a-bottle moment.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Solarpunk is happening in Africa”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Transaction fees are high
“The M-PESA transaction fees are high.”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Solarpunk is happening in Africa” Not interoperable across providers
“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.”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to sovereign payment”
Other mobile payment apps people recommend
The four most recommended other mobile payment apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wero | 84 | 96 | 47% | 11 | — | — |
| Apple Pay | 73 | 48 | 60% | 12 | — | — |
| Apple Wallet | 58 | 63 | 48% | 10 | — | — |
| Google Pay | 26 | 33 | 44% | 11 | — | — |
| M-PESAThis page | 10 | 1 | 91% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“They have instead been solved by mobile-phone-based systems like Mpesa in Kenya and neighbouring countries.”
“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.”
“make a M-PESA/SEPA/Pix/UPI transfer to account XYZ”
“M-Pesa succeeded because it was built FOR African realities, not DESPITE them.”
“wireless micro-financing without transaction fees works for 10 African countries and is enabling a rural energy revolution”
“MPESA was and is still an incredible product. A real lightning-in-a-bottle moment.”
“M-PESA just made it cheaper and safer.”
“If you've never heard of M-Pesa, I highly recommend learning about it.”
“The M-PESA transaction fees are high.”
“a mobile money platform that let people transfer cash via SMS”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.