“E–SUSU” Operation:
Can Mobile Money Revolutionise an Ancient Saving
System Among Indigenous West Africans?
Evidence from Ghana
Presented @ IMTFI Conference, 2012
By
Eric Osei-Assibey (PhD)
University of Ghana
Presentation Outline
 Introduction: objectives and significance
 Overview: Mobile money services / Susu operations
 Research & Sampling Design and Methodology
 Preliminary Survey Results: Susu Operators
 Preliminary Survey Results:Susu Users
 Findings from Focus Group Discussions
 Future Tasks to Completion
Intro: What is Susu?
 Low income earners in Ghana, such as traders, poor farmers;
make daily savings of their income with certain individuals in
trust. Their daily deposits depends on how much they can afford,
but should be consistent for, at least, a month before withdrawal;
 Under this scheme, clients do not earn any interest on their
deposits, neither do they usually access loans.
Feature of Susu: Merits
 Good knowledge of the local





market
Convenient outreach to
clients (doorstep service);
Very little or no bureaucracy
and paperwork;
Flexibility to adjust to
changing circumstances, as in
emergencies;
Quick turn-around time
Micro-savings
Susu: Demerits
• Overdependence on trust,
• No legal recourse to deal with
defaulters or, for savers, fraud;
• It does not involve any legal
documentation or paperwork;
except for a piece of card/book
where daily collections are
recorded;
• These obvious operational
inefficiencies, have culminated in
the following (see next slide)
Demerits
 high transaction costs ;
 restricted scale;
 limited scope of operations;
• operates on foot, bicycle or
motor bikes;
 they are prone to robbery
attacks;
 inability to work due to illness,
laboriousness or unforeseen
circumstances
 Thus unable to solve the saving
needs of the large unbanked
population within the informal
sector. (86%)
Is Mobile Money The Solution?
 With the rapid diffusion of technological infrastructure and
advancement, the issue is how the Susu operation can leverage
this modern technology to reduce these costs and inefficiencies
and still make savings much easier for the urban poor.
The State of MM in Ghana
 Steep increase in Mobile Phone subscription – 99.7% (as of Oct.2012)
 MM a key driver to the expected cashless or cashlite society
 But only 9% Mobile phone users in Ghana had MM account between
2011 and 2012
 The rate has since increased to 16.5% (over 4.1 million)
 There are three MM in Ghana:
 MTN Mobile Money –5% (active users of 2 million accounts)
 Tigo Cash -13% (active users of 1.2million accounts)
 Airtel Money – 2 % (active users of 900,000 accounts)
Specific Research Questions:
 What factors are influencing the use of SUSU as a store of value/
micro-saving infrastructure? Are there any social or cultural practices
that bind people to these services?
 What is the extent of usage or knowledge of mobile money within the
SUSU operation by both operators and savers?
 What factors will determine the Susu operators, and the users’
willingness to accept or use mobile money in place of the traditional
practice?
 Will the use of mobile money complement or substitute the work of
Susu operators?
Conceptual Framework of Analysis
 Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how,
why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through
cultures (Rogers 1962)
 Rogers (1995) pointed out that diffusion of an innovation occurs
through a five- step innovation-decision process:
1) knowledge of an innovation;
2) to forming an attitude towards the innovation;
3) deciding to adopt or reject the innovation;
4) implementing the new idea; and
5) confirming the innovation decision.
Technology Adoption Framework

1
Knowledge
Decision
Persuasion
Implementatio
Confirmatio
n
n
Regulatory
Framework/
Policy
Context
Potential Users/
individual Heterodox
Characteristics
Reject
Competition,
Marketing, Cost &
Price
Accept
Subscriptions/Users
Consequence
Economic:
Productivity gains
•education and
promotional campaigns
•Advisory Services
•Education/Training
•Research
&Development
Social:
Welfare gains
Sampling Design and Methodology
The study uses a three pronged
approach: Surveying
 Traditional Susu operators
 Susu Users
 Telecom operators
Location & Stratification
 Accra – The Capital -10 local
markets
 Kumasi – 6 local markets
Sampling Methodology


Structured Questionnaire
Focus Group Discussions
Preliminary Results- 90 Susu Operators
Highest Level of Education
Age Distribution of Operators
35

33.3
1
27.6
25
19.6
20
10.3
15
20
16.7
5.6
10
9.2
10
27.8
30
Percent
30
37.8
40
11.1
1.1
0
5
0
18-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
Above 40
Fig 1: Average amount collected
from a client daily
Average Daily Income (GHc)
>1000
23.3
500-1000
20.5
201-500
11
51-200
21.9
<50
23.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
61.6
12.8
Up to
1GHC
11.6
1 to
5GHC
5 to 10
GHC
5.8
8.1
10 to More than
20GHC 20GHC
Percent
Use of Mobile Phone
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
100
90
80
70
60 1
30.7
50  1
40
30
20
10 39.5
0
83.0
52.3
11.4
40.7
15.1
5.7
4.7
Other Findings
90
80
70
60
50
40
Clients Calling
30
20
Usage mobile phone10
0
to call clients
50.0
66.7 68.5
21.2
Major Difficulties encountered in
Susu operations
Adoption of MM
59.0
47.6
58.5
57
80.2 81.9
62.2
Lack of cooperation or…
32
Commuting to and fro
30.7
Tiredness
Awareness Perceived Perceived Willingness
Capability Potential to adopt
/ Feasibilty Threat of
MM
25.3
Robbery attack
6.7
Illness
5.3
0
10
20
30
40
SUSU USERS: Sampled 174 Susu users – 84% Female
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Educational level
1
Average daily income (GHc)
52.9
80
17.5
6.4
14
4.7
0.6
4.1
Percent

65.8
60
40
25.9
20
7.5
0.8
0
< 50
Reasons for choosing Susu over
others
Others
12%
Bank fees
too high
11%
Bank
location not
convenient
12%
Income too
low/savings
too small
42%
Susu more
convenient
23%
50-200
201-500
Income range
>500
Other Relevant Questions
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
94.7
92.8
66.1
36.5
15.2
1

1
Reasons for not willing to use MM
for Susu
MM Question
100
76.9
80
1
60
1
40.9
40
20
2.4
0
Aware of MM
Experience Willingness to
with money
use MM for
transfer via MM
Susu
Education and Willingness to Accept
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
75
61.1
56.8
21.7
42.9
87.5
Not enough knowledge on
mobile phones
Not too conversant with
mobile phone
Unsure money will be
delivered
33.3
36.4
12.5
65.2
100
42.9
25.8
14.6
Easy to forget payments
7.9
There will be no proof in
case I lost my phone
High cost of mobile phone
services
Current Susu operation is
safe
Record keeping will be a
problem
It depends
17.9
36
No
Yes
4.5
4.5
3.4
2.2
Others
1.1
0
10
20
30
40
Findings from FGD (Susu Operators)
 No Technology use – purely paper work
 Users have absolute trust because of proximity
 Many operate night shifts in order to keep their collected money away
from robbers.
Pessimism
 knowledge in mobile phones and safety
 Mobile Susu operators unsure of role
 Possible Irregularity of payments and diminish trust
Optimism
 Many are hopeful of becoming agents, particularly the immobile ones.
FGD: Susu Users
 It prevents incessant demands from relative and attacks by thieves.
 Many hear of defraud by the Susu operators. -The Susu operator make huge
promises of which they could not fulfill and run away with their money.
 A higher percentage does not know where the operators reside or operate.
 They prefer if the operators work every day including holidays
 They doubt the reliability of the mobile money transfer:
 Concerns of what happens if the phone get lost and SMS charges/fees were
raised.
 Although they heard about mobile money, they wouldn't be comfortable
using it since many are not conversant with the functions of mobile phones
TASK TO COMPLETION
 Conduct interviews with the three main telecom companies currently
involved in MM
 Undertake a quantitative analysis of the survey data to determine factors
that are important in explaining willing to accept or reject mobile
money by operators and users of Susu.
 Draft the final report
 Submit a paper for publication in an international journal