Mobile money accounts grow 13pc in 2022

Mobile money services are growing faster than predicted around the globe, with the number of registered mobile money accounts growing by 13 per cent year-on-year, from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion by the end of 2022, according to the GSMA's annual report.

The report titled 'State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023', funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, points out that the rate of adoption of mobile money services is accelerating faster than expected.

While it took the industry 17 years to reach the first 800 million customers, the growth was extremely significant as it took just five years to reach the next 800 million, said the report published on Tuesday.

In 2022, daily transactions via mobile money reached US$3.45 billion, exceeding the $3.0 billion amount predicted in 2021. Total transaction value for mobile money grew by 22 per cent between 2021 and 2022, from $1.0 trillion to around $1.26 trillion.

However, in many areas across the world, underserved communities lack access to safe, secure and affordable financial services, it noted.

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 2023 report showed that 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 -- and the industry continues to focus on use case diversification, playing an important role in digitising economies.

According to the report, as the world increasingly moved on from COVID-19, mobile money services continued to show resilient growth that was instigated during the pandemic. Up to 400 million accounts were added during the pandemic alone.

This rapid uptake was largely due to the technology's role in enabling millions of people across the low- and middle-income countries to access digital financial services. The trend continued, with the number of accounts active on a 30-day basis also growing by 13 per cent year-on-year to 401 million in 2022.

The report also showed that, during 2022, mobile money-enabled international remittances grew by 28 per cent year-on-year - to $22 billion. During the pandemic, many diasporas sent more funds via mobile money to friends and families than ever before.

As a result, international remittances grew significantly in both 2020 and 2021, as many senders favoured mobile money for its efficiency, speed, safety and cost-effectiveness. The trend continued in 2022, albeit at a slower rate.

The report highlighted that mobile money is also continuing to drive financial inclusion for the world's unbanked, particularly amongst women in rural communities, where access to mobile money can play a transformational and empowering role.

However, according to the latest GSMA data, there was a mobile money gender gap that showed signs of widening over the last year, particularly in India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Mobile phone ownership was one of the main drivers of the mobile money gender gap. However, a number of other barriers and cultural norms also prevented women from adopting mobile money.

As a result, women in the low- and middle-income countries are currently 28 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile money account.

Growing agency networks

The report showed that the number of mobile money agents also increased significantly last year, with a 41 per cent increase between 2021 and 2022.

The overall number of agents rose from 12 million in 2021 to 17.4 million in 2022. The number of active agents increased by 25 per cent to 7.2 million in 2022. A lot of this growth came from Nigeria, where a more liberal regulatory regime meant an increase in mobile money providers.

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