Every year, the GSMA Intelligence publishes a State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money Accounts, based on the results of the annual GSMA Global Adoption Survey of Mobile Financial Services.
GSMA’s State of the Industry Report reveals the following:
- There are more than 1 billion registered mobile money accounts, worldwide
- Daily mobile money transactions amount to about $2 billion
- Mobile money services are available in 96% countries where less than a third of the population have an account at a formal financial institution
- Digital transactions represented 57% of mobile money interactions
- Number of agent outlets has almost tripled over the past five years
- The reach of a mobile money agent is now seven times that of ATMs and 20 times that of bank branches
- More value is circulating in the mobile money system than exiting
The total value of money circulating in digital platforms reached $22 billion in December 2019, more than doubling over the last two years and surpassing the total value of outgoing transactions, which settled at $18 billion.
For consumers, this marks a shift from cash towards digital payments — for school fees, e-commerce, international remittances, savings, credit, pay-as-you-go utilities and more.
The trickle down effect of the increase in mobile money accounts is the following:
- More women are using financial services
- Low-income households are accessing essential utility services
- Smallholder farmers are getting paid more quickly and conveniently
- Migrants are experiencing faster, safer and cheaper international remittances
- Humanitarian cash assistance is being delivered more thoughtfully to those in crises
Regulation that enables low-cost services for the financially excluded has been crucial to the success of mobile money, and there is a clear correlation between an enabling regulatory environment and a high mobile money adoption rate.
John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA
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