While western operators try and try again with NFC-based payments, and the US’s unfortunately named Isis venture is forced to rebrand, the real potential for mobile money is seen in the M-Pesa service in parts of Africa. Safaricom, the Vodafone joint venture which runs services for the unbanked in Kenya, is set to open up its sales network to rivals, as it looks to protect its near-monopoly from new entrants. The 85,000 M-Pesa sales agents across Kenya will now be able to run these services alongside competitive offerings such as Airtel Money and Orange Money, in the same premises. Safaricom’s concession is a win for rival Airtel, which has been pushing for mobile payments services to be made interoperable and…