Mobile money is key to growing banks in africa quartz africa. Analysis of pakistan, bangladesh, india, serbia and. Determinants of mobile money remittance in east africa. In 2007, safaricom, a kenyan mobile communications operator, launched a more mature service called mpesa. Hit the ground running with an os interface you already know. An empirical examination of why mobile money schemes ignite in.
The book covers regulation of mobile money and uses case stud. At the end of last year, there were more mobile money accounts than bank accounts in nine developing countries mostly in subsaharan africa, mobile industry lobby group gsma said. Business law at the university of western cape, in south africa, under an australia aid. Over the last 10 years, availability of mobile phones has increased dramatically. Mobile money services have positively impacted africa since 2007. One business where the poorest continent is miles ahead. A mobile money operator is a mobile money service provider that develops and delivers financial services through mobile phones and mobile telephone networks. Mobileenabled persontoperson payments, or mobile money transfer services mmt, are experiencing rapid adoption in many markets, in response to steady growth in remittances, the worldwide ubiquity of cell phones, and the need for an electronic p2p payment alternative to paperbased mechanisms like cash and checks. According to the tax proposals contained in the excise duty amendment act 2018, a tax of 1 per cent of the value of the transaction will apply on mobile money transactions on receiving money, making payments and. Bankelele, an awardwinning kenyan blogger on all things banking, shared some pragmatic insights from nairobi, the heart of africas mobile money revolution. In many markets, individual outlets may serve several mobile money service providers. Mobile money in subsaharan africa and its implications 2 january 29, 2016. An emoney accountwallet that is primarily accessed using a mobile phone that is. Carteira movel, controlled by the main mobile phone operator in mozambique, launched the first mobile money service in the country branded mkesh.
Mobile money in subsaharan africa and its implications. According to mastercard, africa is taking the lead in the market. The conversion of cash into electronic value and vice versa happens at retail stores or agents. The growth of mobile money in africa the borgen project. Mobile money in africa mobile money and related financial services are continuing to see rapid growth in africa, and are of major interest to a number of businesses in the region from financial institutions and technology firms through to governments. Mobile money in africa press 1 for modernity middle. The mobile phone revolution and the rise of mobile money, especially in east africa with platforms such as mpesa, has changed this. This research, carried out through case study and desk. It is very common to send money via cellphone in africa. Mobile money has also been seen as a lifeline to a number of social and economic clusters in africa, from the increasing number of agents, growing from 100,000 agents in 2011 to 1. As many as 30% of cell phone users in africa report that they participate in mobile banking a new report from the pew research center shows the transformative power of the cell phone in the worlds fastestgrowing market for mobile technology. Mobile money for business development in the east african. Pdf on may 1, 2017, oscar correia and others published determinants of. The paper focuses on innovative mobile phones money and banking options in four african countries kenya, nigeria tanzania an d uganda.
Mobile money in subsaharan africa and its implications by. The spread of mobile money has often served as a critical step towards creating a functional financial system in countries where the financial sector is still underdeveloped. Mobile banking and mobile money development in asia and africa vairavan ramanathan global head of innovation and mobile transaction banking, standard chartered bank. Africa, isaac kabere njoroge and mercy buku of safaricom, and simone di castri, lara.
Its mobile banking, or mbanking, which enables mobile phone users to access basic financial services even when they are miles away from their nearest branch or home computer. Imtfis approach and methodology imtfi, housed in the department of anthropology at the university of california, irvine, specializes in research that explores the intersection of everyday monetary behavior the mobile money experience in subsaharan africa lessons from the institute for. Africa is a global leader in mobile money, with telecom operators embracing innovative practices that allow customers to not only pay bills but also. Regulatory impact on mobile money and financial inclusion. Africa is the global leader in mobile money, which has become an important component of africa s financial services landscape. Send money with love instant, no fee transfers from the us, uk, canada, italy, ireland and spain to africa with excellent rates. Richardson, along with other industry players from the african continent, will host presentations at mobile money africa, in johannesburg, from 28. This strategic research report from berg insight provides you with 160 pages of unique business intelligence and expert. How can mobile technology transform african development. Mpesa, mtn, orange, others lead africas mobile money. We recently published the decade edition of the state of the industry report on mobile money and.
May 19 mobile money has changed from being a fad into a fullblown industry. This highperforming laptop is built for the new mobile business class with the durability, security and easy manageability youve come to expect from the latitude efamily laptops. Ugandas relatively low rate of personal mobile phone ownership continues to be a barrier to mobile money account registration. Keep up with business from anywhere with the dell latitude e6520. Informal sector gdp contribution, link to formal sector, contribution to job generation vastly unknown in africa yet the informal sector is where the majority of the. The top 7 african countries for mobile money infographics. An enabling regulatory environment is essential for continued growth of mobile money services and further financial inclusion. Mobile enabled persontoperson payments, or mobile money transfer services mmt, are experiencing rapid adoption in many markets, in response to steady growth in remittances, the worldwide ubiquity of cell phones, and the need for an electronic p2p payment alternative to paperbased mechanisms like cash and checks. In both kenya and tanzanias success is basically driven by the people who believed nothing less than mobile money success, that drove proper regulatory discussions, push back to banking competitors to show them that there is a value add. The report africa mobile money market by transaction mode nfcsmart cards, direct mobile billing, mobile webwap payments, sms, stkussd, and others, nature of payment, location, type of purchase, and by country forecast to 2020, defines the africa mobile money market based on various transaction modes, nature of payments, location types, and types of purchases with an indepth. Mobile money in africa is currently in use in 36 of the 47 countries in subsaharan africa, and is used prominently throughout east africa. Little 1994, an empirical analysis of latitude of price acceptance in consumer. Currently mobile money is regulated by central banks and telco regulators.
The number of live mobile money services more than doubled in the last 5 years mobile money in west africa has come a long way since 2011 30new mobile money accounts were registeredevery minute in the past five years there are more than 3 times as many mobile money subscribers. Mobile money allows digital money storage, payments and transfers. Africa is currently rising as a major area where mobile money is spreading. Here are two of the largest mobile money operators in africa and beyond. Bank did not have much latitude in the legal or regulatory framework to deal with. Transfer market a different approach to mobile money in africa.
About 61 million active mobile money customers were using the service globally, up from 37 million in 2012, gsma said. This blog post was cowritten by jenny frydrych and aryan jain. Mobile money operators typically leverage an agent network to. The gsmas mobile money for the unbanked mmu programme. Mobile money, financial inclusion, and development in africa. A global leader in electronic money transfers and payments, western union has more than 26,000 agent locations across the african continent and in april last year partnered with safaricom to offer mobile money transfer services to kenyans living abroad. Mobile money is a mobile payments system based on accounts held by a mobile operator and accessible from subscribers mobile phones. In this report we begin by identifying key users from the individuallevel transaction data of a mobile money provider in one east african country. The use of cell phones to transfer money in modern africa. By omar mohammed kenyas leading telecom firm safaricom and south africas voda. Government is proposing a new tax on mobile money transactions. Mobile money in emerging markets mobile money in emerging markets is the second consecutive report from berg insight that gives first hand insights into the latest developments on the mobile money and remittances markets.
The emergence of mobile money in zimbabwe has proved very popular as organisations across sectors try to develop and package the product. For more information on full subscription access, contact us. What 1% new tax on mobile money transactions means. Please provide your account email and password below new users can sign up for a public account. State of the mobile money industry in subsaharan africa gsma. Mobile money on the rise in africa as millions get phones. Mobile network operators mnos have dominated mobile money services in africa for the past decade. More than half of all kenyan adults regularly use mobile accounts to send andor receive money. From your smartphone to your recipients mobile wallets. The socioeconomic impact of mobile financial services.
These countries have generally given mnos, and other nonbanks, latitude to lead mobile. The ongoing vibrancy of the mobile economy in subsaharan africa depends heavily on the actions. In a sign of how much of a mobileorientated the continent it is, subsaharan africa is projected to have 500m cellphone subscribers by 2020. In the long term, it is desirable for the program to have the latitude to choose. More recently, fintechs have established a solid footing in the market, and a number of banks are beginning to compete aggressively for the mobile banking customer. Mobile money snapshot across the east african community as at 3.
Lessons for west africa mobile money has had a transformational impact on reaching lowincome and historically unbanked households in developing countries and integrating them into the wider financial system by providing access to a range of. To compete in africas diverse mobile money markets, banks must offer distinctive mobile and digital services not only in payments and deposits, but across the. The growth of mobile money in africa millions of africans utilize their cell phones to manage their finances. Saharan africa, has at least one social safety net. Kiep world economy update backgrounds the first mobile money service was launched in south africa in the year 2000. A different approach to mobile money in africa the economist. Pdf determinants of mobile money remittance in east africa. Challenges and opportunities for mobile money march 2016 juliet k. Success of mobile money is all that has been said here plus human resources, this is critical. According to the 2015 global index report by the world bank, the countries whose penetration rate for mobile money accounts was over 10% were all located in subsaharan africa. Ethiopia opens up mobile money services to local nonfinancial firms. Read in french while east africa has long been the darling of mobile money innovation, west africa has also witnessed impressive growth over the past five years. Novafrica collaborated with carteira movel and the central bank of mozambique to provide an indepth study.