( CNN ) -- Snapchat may be the latest application with a new mobile payment feature launched this week , but the idea that made Snapcash possible was spawned more than seven years ago in Africa . When M-Pesa came on the scene in 2007 -- a money transfer system devised by Vodafone and Kenya-based Safaricom - it sparked a mini-revolution . With the touch of a button , relatives in Nairobi could transfer cash instantly to their remote up-country families without the need for bank accounts , bureaucracy , and sometimes long journeys to settle accounts . Experimental beginnings . Initially launched as an experiment in creating a development impact through a private-sector solution , and seeded with as little as £2 million ( US $ 3.1 million ) in competition money , the system has gone from strength to strength . M-Pesa has nearly 17 million active customers and as many as 186,000 agents worldwide . Customers make more than €900 million ( US $ 1.1 billion ) worth of person-to-person transactions a month . In 2013 , it shifted a massive US $ 22 billion in wireless financial transactions . Now , the technology that was honed in Africa is being exported to Europe , with the launch of the mobile wallet technology in Romania . `` The majority of people in Romania have at least one mobile device , but more than one-third of the population do not have access to conventional banking , '' said Vodafone director of mobile money , Michael Joseph . While it is early days in Romania -- the company only made its active launch in August this year -- analysts are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for its success . `` By Vodafone 's estimation , 35 percent of the Romanian population do n't use banking services and , if you look at Vodafone 's footprint in Europe , Romania is one of the places where M-Pesa stands the best chance of gaining adoption , '' mobile analyst for IHS Technology Jack Kent told CNN . `` In more developed markets , like the U.K. and Germany , there is n't a role for this type of payment system . This service really works where people need an alternative to traditional banking . '' Expanded potential . When Safaricom partnered with Vodafone , the intention had been to develop a system for women , usually the recipients of microfinance , to repay micro-loans cheaply and quickly . But after Safaricom 's management team looked at the application , they saw it had a greater potential . Kenyans now use it to pay school fees , taxes , traffic fines , and more recently it 's been extended to give people the ability to save and to borrow . Other more sophisticated financial services are also being introduced . The mobile payment system covers microinsurance , payrolls and even distributors like Diageo , which deliver beer to bars , take M-Pesa payments rather than have the delivery trucks go around with cash . It has even extended into Kenya 's real estate and rental market with a service called Lipa Kodi— Swahili for `` pay your rent . '' Kenya 's rental market is a large and growing segment ( the latest census estimated there were 6.5 million rental households ) as the country rapidly urbanizes . Valued at around 17.2 billion Kenyan shillings ( US $ 200 million ) , it represents a fifth of the total value of the real estate market in Kenya . Within five years , M-Pesa contributes almost 20 % of Safaricom 's total revenue and has been rolled out in Egypt , Lesotho and Mozambique , before first venturing outside Africa into India . Universal appeal . While it was originally designed for and aimed at those at the bottom of the pyramid , M-Pesa is used by almost everyone that needs to move money in Kenya , allowing users to transfer between US $ 1,500 -- US $ 1,600 per day . Recent services , such as the credit application M-Shwari , however , have come under fire over what critics claim are high levels of interest charged to Kenya 's poorest . Even though the loans are small , typically just $ 300 , they have a 30-day term at 7.5 % . On an annualized basis , critics say , the loans attract an interest rate of about 100 % . Additionally , a higher rate of interest applies if the loan is paid either early or late and a subscriber 's savings account is frozen up to the amount due . Nevertheless , for many analysts , M-Pesa is an example of a successful social enterprise—a system that not only has a clear social benefit but returns a profit as well . For detractors of Africa 's dependence on foreign aid , applications like M-Pesa are the way forward . Ironically , aid organizations are using M-Pesa themselves to direct cash payments . `` When it was started , it was n't even conceived as a social enterprise ; I do n't think it was even a popular term at the time , '' Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore told CFA Magazine . `` But now , USAID , which distributes aid—and often this aid evaporates ; it 's stolen—these guys use M-Pesa to get the benefit directly to the person who is receiving it . '' Read more from Tomorrow Transformed : . Can the web predict the future ? The Universal Translator from science fiction is coming . Finally , a flying car for everybody ?
Mobile money transfer system M-Pesa is aimed at people without bank accounts . It allows users to send and receive cash in a single swipe, with no need for any verification or account details. M-Pesa has nearly 17 million active customers and as many as 186,000 agents worldwide . It recently launched in Romania where an estimated 35 % of people have no bank account .