NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon have all gone into the digital payments game. As have China’s Alibaba and WeChat.

Developing markets such as Kenya do not yet have the levels of Internet penetration and e-commerce sophistication to attract these online giants turned fintech entrepreneurs.

However, if WeChat’s entry into South Africa is anything to go by, it is only a matter of time before international fintech begins to challenge traditional digital finance offerings such as M-Pesa.

At the same time, a stable of local fintech companies are sprouting and they are expected to mature as fast Internet becomes more affordable and as Kenyans embrace shopping and banking online.