Kenyan sugar cane cutters are earning more money because of a mobile phone banking system supported by IBM.

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"In this era of mobile banking, use of counterfeit devices, which are manufactured without due consideration to the recognised security standards, may expose our mobile money systems as well as the wider banking and financial system to unnecessary risks, " said the communications secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo.

BBC: Kenya to switch off 'fake' mobile phones

In the emerging world , the most famous mobile payments success is in Kenya, where M-Pesa , the P2P payments service of mobile phone supplier Safaricom, has effectively created an alternative banking and payments system.

FORBES: Who's Ready For Mobile Payments? The U.S., Canada...And Kenya

This trend is particularly evident in developing nations in Asia (85 million mobile accounts) and Africa (58 million mobile accounts), where mobile phones have emerged as a means of extending financial services in lieu of an underdeveloped banking system.

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