Now available in over 60% of developing markets, mobile financial services (MFS) are firmly established in the financial sectors of the majority of the developing world and are increasingly being used to increase access to low-cost financial services including payments, transfers, insurance, credit and savings. This report outlines 2014 trends in availability, accessibility and adoption of MFS around the world. It highlights how the MFS sector continues to expand but challenges in regulation, low levels of investment, and lack of industry collaboration limit the ability of it to reach scale.
The survey uses both qualitative insights on mobile money services and quantitative information on numbers of users, distribution points, transaction volumes and values, and revenues. Data was collected through Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) database. Respondents supplied standardised operational metrics about their services for each quarter of one year between 2013 and 2014 on a confidential basis. A total of 127 service providers from 69 countries participated in the 2014 survey, with 115 submitting information on mobile money, 33 on mobile insurance, and 15 on mobile credit and savings.
Availability in mobile money services:
- Two hundred and fifty five mobile money services are now live across 89 countries. In East Africa, one in two connections is now linked to a mobile money account.
- Regulators are establishing more enabling regulatory frameworks for the provision of mobile money services in response to the increasingly recognised role that non-bank providers of mobile money services can play in fostering financial inclusion.
Accessibility in mobile money services:
- Mobile money agent networks continue to grow quickly and now outsize traditional financial and remittance service networks. West Africa saw particular progress in 2014.
- Growing numbers of mobile money providers are making their services available through applications: 61% of services are now available via an app and this percentage will continue to increase as smartphone penetration rises.
Adoption of mobile money services:
- Registered mobile money accounts globally grew to reach just under 300 million in 2014. There is still huge potential for future growth as this represents only 8% of mobile connections in the markets where mobile money services are available.
- In 2014, seven new markets joined the ranks of countries where there are more mobile money accounts than bank accounts, bringing the total to 16, indicating that mobile money remains a key enabler of financial inclusion.
- Operators are reaching more customers at the bottom of the pyramid. Survey respondents reported an overall increase in the penetration of mobile money services among women and among rural customers.
Other key trends include:
- A steep increase in the number of international remittances via mobile money, primarily driven by the introduction of a new model using mobile money as both the sending and receiving channel. survey respondents reported that it helps reduce the cost of sending remittances internationally.
- Two distinct mobile insurance distribution models have emerged: low-touch, where marketing creates customer awareness, and high-touch, which involves educating customers about insurance.
The report notes that the industry will need to continue strengthening the foundations for mobile money services in order to serve a broader mix of users, and it will need to instill best practices in order to continually improve quality of service. Providers of mobile financial services will need to engage with regulators and standard setting bodies to create more enabling regulatory environments to allow these services to flourish, fostering sustainable investment in the services that underpin a strong digital financial ecosystem.
