They pay via mobile phone.

After the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991, Somaliland became independent. This opposition continues in various forms to this day. The Somali shilling has also undergone dramatic changes since its inception. Since its release in 1994, the weapon has been widely used to finance wars with armed forces in the region. After that, the country's officials printed currency at will to achieve political goals, which resulted in the country's currency depreciating over the years. In Somalia, the sounds of 500 shillings and 1,000 shillings are the most common. To buy a small amount of food or daily necessities, pay with lots of banknotes. Medium-sized transactions require large amounts of banknotes. To exchange shillings for dollars and euros, street-dependent currency exchange machines often use trolleys to move bundles of banknotes from one street to another.

There are no banks or ATMs in Somaliland. Two private companies later filled the void, and a mobile banking economy emerged. People use the two companies to deposit money on their phones and then transact at privately negotiated prices. From brick-and-mortar stores in Hargeisa to roadside stalls in rural areas, cash is increasingly marginalized as more and more people adopt cashless payments. In a country with high illiteracy rates, mobile payments are growing rapidly due to their simplicity and practicality.

This payment method simply requires the user to enter a merchant-specific code and a few numbers, which can be found everywhere, crudely printed on the outside of tin cans or market stalls. In high-end stores, the code is overmolded after printing and then neatly placed on a prominent interior wall. This payment method does not require Internet access, so even the most basic feature phones can be used. Users can similarly dial numbers and codes to transfer money from their mobile banking accounts to others. Last year, Somaliland suffered a severe drought, severely affecting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers and herders. Mobile payment technology enables Somalis living in cities to quickly transfer money to rural relatives living in poverty and hunger.