[rogerbinns]

Is the value purely stored in the SIM? ie does this all work without any form of cellular connectivity, or is there some sort of synchronization over cellular.

How do they deal with rogue agents? Presumably a rogue agent can claim you have handed over a large sum of money but it would take a while to discover they have lied.

[abenga]

No value is stored in the SIM, the transaction record and balance is stored in Safaricom's servers. Agents have a registration number prominently displayed, and all transactions are immediately confirmed by SMS to both parties. I think agents also need deposit a (significant) amount of money to get registered. Daily transactions for individual accounts are capped at 70000 shillings (about 900 dollars), so is the balance in the account. It would be difficult to carry out fraud of any significant scale with the system.

[rogerbinns]

So that means all transactions have to take place where there is cellular connectivity then?

I live in the US - our connectivity is highly volatile and connectivity concerns are still a major part of the cellular consumer experience.

[joelhaasnoot]

I was on the lookout for lions in a wildlife park in Uganda while checking my email... It's all possible.