Kenya is a global leader in mobile money business holding a third of the world’s 61 million mobile phone-based money accounts, the GSM Association report has revealed. The association of mobile operators on Tuesday in Barcelona Spain released a statement saying the number of unbanked in emerging markets continue to benefit from the fast growth in mobile money services pioneered by Safaricom.
“At the end of 2013, nine markets – Kenya, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Congo, Madagascar, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe – had more mobile money accounts than bank accounts, compared to just four markets 2012,” said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA.
The same GSMA report indicates the number of active mobile continues to grow rapidly with 61 millions accounts active as June 2013 compared to 37 million accounts in June 2012. Further, the number of registered mobile money accounts nearly tripled in just 2 years from 71 million as at June 2011 to 203 million in June 2013.
Positive regulatory reforms are enabling mobile money services to exponentially grow. The majority of services remain in sub-Saharan Africa with 52% of all mobile money deployment located in the region. Plans are already underway to roll out the service in Latin America.
“The [GSMA] report underscores the enormous impact that mobile money is having in emerging markets, by providing access to increasing numbers of products and services and helping millions of people to manage their daily lives and improve their livelihoods,” said Tom Phillips.
