NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, March 2, 2017

The GSMA today unveiled its sixth ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’, offering a current snapshot of the mobile money landscape and highlighting the impact of mobile money on lives, economies and innovation over the past 10 years. The report provides the only comprehensive picture of mobile money around the globe.

This edition looks back across the decade since the pioneering launch of M-Pesa in Kenya, which first demonstrated the potential of mobile technology to transform access to financial services. Today there are more than half a billion registered mobile money accounts across 92 countries.

“Giving underserved people access to digital payments has expanded financial inclusion to hundreds of millions of people in developing countries and has enabled them to be more secure, more empowered and more active contributors to local communities,” said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA.

“Mobile operators have been at the centre of this success story. The reach and impact of their services provides a clear example of how important the mobile industry is to ensuring achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”