I beg to differ. I think Equity has a captive market of 8m customers. If they can convince their customers to enter a seamless money network featuring Equity agents (over 10,000 countrywide), the Bank, and the mashinani supermarkets and kiosks that currently accept Equity visa cards, this could be a game changer. At a cheaper price BTW.

My only concern is that Equity are klutzes when it come to dealing with technology issues.

Success or failure will be greatly dependent on
1 - How much commission per transfer Mwangi is willing to pay agents
2 - How much money he is willing to invest in technology
That strategy of outsourcing management of IT infrastructure? Doesn't work. Only unimaginative accountants and cost cutters go for this option. Trust me. You have to pay top dollar to get top drawer service, equipment and support. When you draw up a mean, ham-fisted contract for support, whoever wins it assigns the least productive people on their roster, and your SLAs are shit. When you get problems, they are never priority, better paying clients get the gold service. Customers suffer. Its one of the reasons Airtel is stuck in a morass it cant pull out of.

My pedestrian thinking, would KCB, COOP, NBK and other banks allow Equity "Mpesa" to withdraw money from their customers accounts the same way they have allowed Mpesa to link to their customer accounts? If Equity is targeting it's existing clients then it's ok.

The main reason would be who needs another line ?

How many numbers do your friends have to keep track of on you ? We all know how hard it has been for any new entrant to get subscribers off their initial service providers(Saf & Kencell [Airtel]). Data services are always available even without activation of the voice service. You do not necessarily need a WiFi availability.

It provides a much smooth experience for simple yet effective service delivery without additional costs for a service which others have perfected. Remember voice brings about call quality issues which form a huge complaint from clients. Data only cards/devices have less issues.

Case in point. 3G modems are devices that came about as a result in the need for internet access without necessarily requiring a voice plan. ( very few complaints about the modem devices, most complaints are about data speeds & charges from the different providers ).

Calls to the CCC or help desks can be made using your regular lines as you effect commands/change settings on the separate device.

True. What is in a name! The name may change but the biz remains.