NAIROBI, Kenya, April 19 – Mobile money adoption is growing faster than expected around the globe, with registered accounts, transaction values, and deployments exceeding industry predictions, a new report shows.
The GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, daily transactions via mobile money hit USD3.45 billion in 2022, exceeding the USD3 billion amount predicted in 2021.
This saw total transaction value for mobile money grow by 22 per cent between 2021 and 2022, from USD1 trillion to around USD1.26 trillion.
Further, the report shows that the number of registered mobile money accounts grew by 13 per cent year on year, from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2022.
“It is promising to see the continued growth of mobile money worldwide. Mobile money has afforded millions of unbanked and underserved people in low- and middle- income countries access to digital financial services, for the first time,” said Max Cuvellier, Head of Mobile for Development, GSMA.
Despite the increase in mobile money usage, the report noted that consumer financial health has declined, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
For instance in Kenya, the report revealed that 83 per cent of adults are financially included, but only 24 per cent are considered financially healthy.
To deal with this, GSMA urged the government and regulators in Kenya to design products that serve consumers’ financial needs and ensure they remain financially healthy.
“This can be achieved through a partnership-based approach that aims to improve consumers’ financial competence and literacy through financial literacy training,” the report said.
Further, it adds that in many areas worldwide more work is still needed to help give underserved communities access to safe, secure and affordable financial services.
“With 1.4 billion people worldwide remaining unbanked, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme is working with mobile operators and industry stakeholders worldwide to create a robust mobile money ecosystem, increasing the relevancy and utility of these services and ensuring their sustainability,” the report noted.
The 2023 report shows there are now 315 live mobile money deployments across the globe, with peer to peer (P2P) transfers and cash-in/cash-out transactions still among the most popular use cases.
Bill payments using mobile money grew by 36 per cent year-on-year, faster than any other use case.
The report also shows that, during 2022, mobile money-enabled international remittances grew by 28 per cent year on year – to USD22 billion.
