The rate of growth of mobile money in the world has surprised industry experts reaching 1.6 billion accounts today.

The new GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023 released recently and copied to Ghana Business News, shows that across the world mobile money services are growing fast.

It took the industry 17 years to reach the first 800 million customers, but took only five years to reach the next 800 million, and of that, 400 million accounts were added over the course of the pandemic. Today there are 1.6 billion registered mobile money accounts, notes Mats Granryd, the Director General of the GSMA and a Member of the Board.

Commenting on the report, Max Cuvellier, Head of Mobile for Development, GSMA said: “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.”

The report, which is published annually by the GSMA and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, shows that rates of adoption are even quicker than expected, 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 in 2022.

According to the report, in 2022, daily transactions via mobile money reached $3.45 billion, exceeding the $3 billion amount predicted in 2021. Total transaction value for mobile money grew by 22 per cent between 2021 and 2022, from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion.

Despite the unprecedented growth, the authors of the report acknowledge 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 said. The 2023 report also shows 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, it added.

Mobile money and international remittances

The report further notes 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 family 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,” it said.

Mobile money and gender dynamics

The report indicates that mobile money is 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, the report points out that, there is still a mobile money gender gap that has shown signs of widening over the last year, particularly in India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

According to the report as mobile phone ownership remains one of the main drivers of the mobile money gender gap, there are also, a number of other barriers and cultural norms holding back women from adopting mobile money. As a result, women in low- and middle-income countries are currently 28 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile money account.

Growing number of agents

The report found 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 went 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. Agents 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,” it said.

Despite the remarkable growth, Cuvellier added: “However, even with this significant growth, there is still a long way to go to bring those services to over a billion people worldwide who remain unbanked. The GSMA is therefore encouraging governments worldwide to keep developing the enabling policies that can support mobile money deployments and further boost the growth of this crucial ecosystem. Doing so helps accelerate the digitization of national economies and build financial resilience, allowing communities to support themselves in uncertain times.”