2019 marked a major milestone for the mobile money industry: the number of registered mobile money accounts surpassed one billion.
Reaching the one billion mark is a tremendous achievement for an industry that is just over a decade old. The mobile money industry of today has a host of seasoned providers with a broad set of operational capabilities, a full suite of products and a global reach.
This year’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money examines what one billion registered accounts signify for the mobile money industry, mobile money users and the future of the mobile money ecosystem; moving us a step closer to a digital future for all.
Mobile money accounts
The mobile money industry is now processing almost $2 billion a day.
77 deployments have over a million active accounts (90-day) compared to 27 in 2014.
Mobile money services are available in 96 per cent of countries where less than a third of the population have an account at a formal financial institution.
With 290 live services across 95 countries, mobile money is entering the mainstream in most markets where access to financial services is low.
Mobile money agents have 7x more reach than ATMs and 20x more reach than bank branches
Per 100,000 adults:
- 11 Banks
- 33 ATMS
- 228 Mobile money agents
Per 100,000 adults:
- 11 Banks
- 33 ATMS
- 228 Mobile money agents
Industry firsts
Transaction values, USD, December 2019
The digitisation of payments has reached new heights
For the first time, digital transactions represent the majority (57%) of mobile money transaction values. A larger proportion of money is entering and leaving the system in digital form, rather than through a cash conversion. Digital transactions: Digital in, Digital out, and Circulating value.
More value is circulating in the mobile money system than exiting
Another industry first - the total value in circulation (P2P and merchant payments) reached $22 billion in December 2019, more than doubling over the last two years and significantly surpassing the total value of outgoing transactions ($18 billion).
Mobile money is central to the mobile industry’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.
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