Africa Demands Tailored Mobile Money Services

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

With technology disruption so evident within financial servicesand an increasing number of mobile money and remittance platforms taking off in Africa, it is not surprising that telcos and network operators are eager to tap into the activity in developing markets. But according to remittance experts securing a foothold in mobile payments is not easy and requires a lot more than simply developing a service and evangelising the offering: it is essential to match up product/ service with the realities of target markets.

According to a GSMA 2015 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Financial Services the number of active mobile money accounts globally exceeds 130 million, with over 100 million new registered users added in 2015. The report also showed that in 2015 there were 271 active services in 93 countries.

“1 in 3 mobile connections in Sub-Saharan Africa are linked to a Mobile Money account …even more impressive, Mobile Money penetration in East Africa exceeds 50 percent,” stated GSMA.

According to statistics attributed to the Central Bank of Kenya, almost US$23-billion was transacted via mobile money transfer services providers in 2015.

Source: ITWeb Africa (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Technology
Tags
digital payments, fintech