Mobile for Development Blog

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To deliver on its promises, digital financial services must hear the voice of consumers

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Amidst the global surge in digital financial services adoption, a collaborative effort between GSMA and Consumers International highlights both progress and challenges in ensuring these innovations deliver on their promises, particularly for vulnerable consumers. Drawing ...

By invitation: Ian Ferrao explains how mobile money could grow in Sub-Saharan Africa 

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In April 2023, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme hosted a workshop for several mobile money providers in London – as part of the launch of the 11th annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money (SOTIR). At the workshop, we discussed industry progress and concerns with ...

Making progress on the SDGs with mobile money

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Mobile Money, a digital wallet and payment service that does not require a bank account, has the potential to lift a wide swath of people out of poverty. It provides financial digital connectivity in low-and middle-income countries – a critical determinant of a ...

Mobile Money in Sri Lanka: eZ Cash and sticky financial services

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Following the launch of The State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme has spoken to senior mobile money executives on their view of the state of the industry. We spoke to Sachini de Silva, Head of Mobile Money at Dialog Axiata Sri ...

Mobile Money in Ethiopia: What we learnt from our expert roundtable  

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Following a successful launch event for the Central Insights Unit's report on Mobile Money in Ethiopia, this blog shares some crucial takeaways from the day's roundtable discussions.

Mobile money, evolving fintech: In conversation with M-Pesa 

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Following the launch of the State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme has spoken to senior mobile money executives on their view of the state of the industry. We spoke to Reenu Verma, Executive Head of the M-Pesa mobile money service ...

Mobile Money: A Path to Empowerment for Indigenous Women

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Today is world Indigenous Peoples’ Day—a day to raise awareness and protect the rights of the world’s Indigenous population of more than 370 million living across 90 countries. Indigenous people are defined as tribal peoples in independent countries whose social, cultural ...

The 2023 SOTIR “Regional Cuts”: Charting mobile money in Africa and Asia

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For over a decade, the GSMA’s State of the Industry Report (SOTIR) has served as a window into the health and wealth of the mobile money industry. For mobile money providers and the wider ecosystem, SOTIR has become a well-regarded source of data that shows the growth of ...

Mobile money in Tanzania: Unveiling the vision of Tigo Pesa  

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Following the launch of the State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme has spoken to senior mobile money executives on their view of the state of the industry. We spoke to Angelica Pesha, Chief Officer for Mobile Financial Services at ...

Mobile money in Myanmar: Wave Money on financial inclusion

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Following the launch of the State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, the GSMA Mobile Money Programme has spoken to senior mobile money executives on their view of the state of the industry. We spoke to Htin Hlaing, Chief Technology Officer at Wave Money Myanmar. ...

Mobile Money in Angola: How Afrimoney is paving the way 

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The arrival of Africell Angola in 2022 has brought a host of exciting opportunities for mobile users seeking a wider selection of services – including financial services. After a successful entry into Angola’s telecoms landscape, Africell officially launched its mobile ...

Unpacking women’s use of mobile money

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With the launch of this year’s SOTIR comes new insights regarding gender and mobile money alongside better understanding on how to reduce the gender gap in women’s usage. However, while there have been substantial gains in mobile-led financial inclusion over the last few ...

Mobile Money International Remittances: Saving the Day Amidst Economic Woes

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As the world began to recover from the economic ramifications of COVID-19, 2023 saw further turmoil and even recession. In fact, the OECD projects global GDP growth in 2023 to be 2.7%, which is the lowest annual rate since the global financial crisis, except for the 2020 ...

The growth of mobile money: Driving financial inclusion for the underserved

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What a year this has been for mobile money! In every region where the GSMA tracks mobile money services, we found they are growing faster and reaching more people than ever before. As we launch the State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023, another 184 million people ...

How the GSMA Mobile Money API can benefit the mobile money ecosystem

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Several mobile money providers have identified open APIs as the best way to integrate with other service providers – both financial and non-financial. Short for “Application Program Interface”, an API is a standard way for computer programs to communicate with each other. ...

Fraud Reporting Template

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Fraud is an ongoing issue for the mobile money industry with new, and increasingly complex, scams being committed as the industry matures and diversifies. This is detrimental to providers who are keen to protect their consumers and retain trust in their services. To address ...

Mobile money activity rates: Which strategies should providers consider

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This is the fourth and final instalment in the series of four blogs aimed at understanding the causes of low user activity rates in the mobile money industry and potential strategies on how to improve mobile money activity. The previous blog focused on successful customer ...

Bridging the Economic Gender Equity Gap: Strategies for Operators and Policymakers

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The growth of mobile money has transformed how people access and manage their finances, especially those previously underserved or excluded. The spread of mobile money accounts has created opportunities to serve women, such as increased savings and providing customers with ...

How mobile money could drive financial inclusion for Pasifika women

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For mobile money to successfully progress in the Pacific, mobile money providers (MMPs) should make a concerted effort to reach Pasifika women as they tend to be the most unbanked demographic in the region due to social norms, geographic, and economic constraints. Pacific ...

Mobile money activity rates: How other industries have boosted usage

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This is the third of four blogs aimed at understanding the causes of low user activity rates in the mobile money industry and potential strategies on how to improve mobile money activity. The previous blog explored past mobile money account activation strategies within the ...