Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition

Mobile money technologies in Malawi have revolutionised banking and monetary transactions across geographical barriers. Prospects of profit have drawn mobile money agents to invest in the business but find it is more profitable when substantial customers subscribe to the cash-in and cash-out facilit...

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Main Authors: Danny Namakhwa, Betchani Henry Mbuyampungatete Tchereni, Winford Masanjala, Collins Duke Namakhwa, Steven Limbanazo Kuchande, Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Scientific African
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227624003727
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author Danny Namakhwa
Betchani Henry Mbuyampungatete Tchereni
Winford Masanjala
Collins Duke Namakhwa
Steven Limbanazo Kuchande
Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu
author_facet Danny Namakhwa
Betchani Henry Mbuyampungatete Tchereni
Winford Masanjala
Collins Duke Namakhwa
Steven Limbanazo Kuchande
Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu
author_sort Danny Namakhwa
collection DOAJ
description Mobile money technologies in Malawi have revolutionised banking and monetary transactions across geographical barriers. Prospects of profit have drawn mobile money agents to invest in the business but find it is more profitable when substantial customers subscribe to the cash-in and cash-out facilities of mobile money. Despite the initial success, several challenges have emerged, including regulatory hurdles, network reliability issues, and the need for increased financial literacy among users. The volumes of transactions in the rural areas are observably lower compared to urban areas. This study uses Bvumbwe township in Malawi to model and forecast the discrepancy of mobile money transactions in rural and semi-urban Malawi. The study uses ARIMA modelling to understand the temporal manifestation of mobile money subscription in these localities. Using ARMA (1,1) models decomposed for the semi-urban and rural area, the study finds that the semi-urban area has a disproportionately higher and lasting volume of mobile money transactions compared to the rural area. The study also finds that mobile money transactions are more susceptible to long-lasting effects of external shocks in the rural area compared to the urban area. Intuitively, the day-to-day relationship in the transactions is also stronger in the rural area. These findings highlight the need for tailored policy interventions to enhance mobile money adoption and utilization in different geographical contexts.
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spelling doaj-art-f002a62cc6a74a449c94f22799c19d8b2025-08-20T01:57:08ZengElsevierScientific African2468-22762024-12-0126e0243010.1016/j.sciaf.2024.e02430Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decompositionDanny Namakhwa0Betchani Henry Mbuyampungatete Tchereni1Winford Masanjala2Collins Duke Namakhwa3Steven Limbanazo Kuchande4Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu5Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Economic Sciences, P/Bag 303, Blantyre 3, MalawiMalawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Economic Sciences, P/Bag 303, Blantyre 3, MalawiUniversity of Malawi, School of Law, Economics and Government, Department of Economics, P.O. Box 280, Zomba, MalawiMalawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Economic Sciences, P/Bag 303, Blantyre 3, Malawi; Corresponding author at: Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Economic Sciences, P/Bag 303, Blantyre 3, Malawi.Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Economic Sciences, P/Bag 303, Blantyre 3, MalawiMalawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Economic Sciences, P/Bag 303, Blantyre 3, MalawiMobile money technologies in Malawi have revolutionised banking and monetary transactions across geographical barriers. Prospects of profit have drawn mobile money agents to invest in the business but find it is more profitable when substantial customers subscribe to the cash-in and cash-out facilities of mobile money. Despite the initial success, several challenges have emerged, including regulatory hurdles, network reliability issues, and the need for increased financial literacy among users. The volumes of transactions in the rural areas are observably lower compared to urban areas. This study uses Bvumbwe township in Malawi to model and forecast the discrepancy of mobile money transactions in rural and semi-urban Malawi. The study uses ARIMA modelling to understand the temporal manifestation of mobile money subscription in these localities. Using ARMA (1,1) models decomposed for the semi-urban and rural area, the study finds that the semi-urban area has a disproportionately higher and lasting volume of mobile money transactions compared to the rural area. The study also finds that mobile money transactions are more susceptible to long-lasting effects of external shocks in the rural area compared to the urban area. Intuitively, the day-to-day relationship in the transactions is also stronger in the rural area. These findings highlight the need for tailored policy interventions to enhance mobile money adoption and utilization in different geographical contexts.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227624003727O17O12O33C53C22
spellingShingle Danny Namakhwa
Betchani Henry Mbuyampungatete Tchereni
Winford Masanjala
Collins Duke Namakhwa
Steven Limbanazo Kuchande
Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu
Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
Scientific African
O17
O12
O33
C53
C22
title Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
title_full Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
title_fullStr Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
title_full_unstemmed Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
title_short Modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi-urban Malawi: An autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
title_sort modelling and forecasting mobile money customer transaction volumes in rural and semi urban malawi an autoregressive integrated moving average spatial decomposition
topic O17
O12
O33
C53
C22
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227624003727
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