Regulation has a major impact on the uptake of mobile money services. Evidence shows that enabling regulatory frameworks [1] accelerate the development and adoption of digital financial services. Today, however, enabling regulatory frameworks only exist in 51 out of 93 markets where mobile money services are available.
In 2013, GSMA launched the Mobile Money Regulatory Guide, which was developed to provide mobile money providers, policymakers, regulators, and other industry stakeholders with an analysis of key mobile money policy issues. Now updated, the guide covers the following five policy issues:
- 1. Who can offer mobile money services?
- 2. Are customer identification and verification requirements proportionate?
- 3. Are customer funds properly safeguarded?
- 4. Are capital requirements proportionate?
- 5. Are requirements for using agents proportionate?
For each policy issue, the guide addresses the following questions:
- What are regulators’ concerns with respect to this issue?
- What do mobile money providers need to be able to address this issue in an effective and commercially sustainable manner?
- What are some examples of different regulatory approaches, including both (i) approaches that are too restrictive and (ii) approaches that strike the right balance by encouraging innovation while mitigating risk?
By analysing these key policy and regulatory issues and providing country examples, this guide aims to provide users with tools to support the development of enabling regulatory frameworks for mobile money.
View the Mobile Money Regulatory Guide
We would be grateful for your feedback on how well the guide meets your needs and how we can improve it. Please contact us at [email protected] and follow us @gsmammu.
Notes
[1] Generally speaking, the GSMA considers a mobile money regulatory framework to be enabling if (1) it permits banks, mobile network operators (MNOs), and other non-banks to offer mobile money services on a level playing field; and (2) subject mobile money providers to proportionate, risk-based requirements with respect to key issues such as capital requirements, interoperability, and the use of agents.