Mobile money services are experiencing exponential growth worldwide, according to the annual “State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023” published by the GSMA.
The report, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, highlights the rapid rate of adoption of mobile money services, with the number of registered mobile money accounts growing by 13% YoY to 1.6 billion in 2022.
This growth is particularly significant given that it took the industry 17 years to reach the first 800 million customers, whereas it has taken just five years to reach the next 800 million. Mobile money services are now live in 315 deployments worldwide, with peer-to-peer transfers and cash-in/cash-out transactions remaining the most popular use-cases.
The report also highlights the role of mobile money in driving financial inclusion and empowering women in rural communities. Despite this, the report shows that there is still a mobile money gender-gap, which has shown signs of widening in India, Indonesia, and Pakistan over the past year. Women in low- and middle-income countries are currently 28% less likely than men to own a mobile money account due to various barriers and cultural norms.
In many areas worldwide, more work is still needed to give underserved communities access to safe, secure, and affordable financial services. The GSMA Mobile Money Programme is working with mobile operators and industry stakeholders worldwide to create a robust mobile money ecosystem, increase the relevance and utility of these services, and ensure their sustainability.
The report shows that during the pandemic, up to 400 million accounts were added to mobile money services alone. The rapid uptake of mobile money services is largely due to the technology’s role in enabling millions of people across low- and middle-income countries to access digital financial services. As the world increasingly moves on from COVID-19, mobile money services have continued to show resilient growth that was instigated during the pandemic.
The number of active mobile money agents increased by 25% to 7.2 million in 2022, with a 41% increase in the overall number of agents from 12 million in 2021 to 17.4 million in 2022. Agents have continued to prove to be an invaluable part of mobile money services and were responsible for two-thirds of all cash-in transactions in 2022.
Bill payments using mobile money grew by 36% YoY, faster than any other use-case. Mobile money-enabled international remittances also grew by 28% YoY to $22bn in 2022. During the pandemic, many diasporas sent more funds via mobile money to friends and family than ever before, resulting in significant growth in international remittances in 2020 and 2021.
Despite the impressive growth rates of mobile money services, more work is needed to provide safe, secure, and affordable financial services to underserved communities. With 1.4 billion people remaining unbanked worldwide, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme is encouraging governments worldwide to develop the enabling policies that can support mobile money deployments and further boost the growth of this crucial ecosystem. Doing so helps accelerate the digitisation of national economies and builds financial resilience, allowing communities to support themselves in uncertain times.
Norvareports