The GSM Association says that mobile money customers reached over 61 million active accounts at mid-year June 2013 compared to 37 million in June 2012.
The GSM Association’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) programme in its third annual Mobile Financial Services State of the Industry Report says that in the same vein, the number of registered mobile money accounts rose from 71 million in June 2011 to 203 million in June 2013.
Mobile money services also expanded from 179 services in 75 countries at the end of 2012 to 219 services in 84 countries at the end of 2013, the mobile telephony trade group reports. [blockquote right=”pull-right” cite=”GSMA”]The report also reveals that mobile money providers are overcoming operational challenges, leading to a large base of active users. “Today, 13 services each have more than 1 million active mobile money accounts.”[/blockquote]
Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA says the “annual 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. Each year our review reveals greater insights on the wide range of uses of mobile money and on how operators are working collaboratively in developing mobile money services to meet growing customer demand.”
The report also reveals that mobile money providers are overcoming operational challenges, leading to a large base of active users. “Today, 13 services each have more than 1 million active mobile money accounts.”
According to GSMA, “as the mobile money industry grows, we are seeing how these services are benefiting the lives of millions of citizens in developing countries all around the world. We will continue to track these tremendous developments and work with mobile operators and the broader ecosystem to expand the scope of services available and to extend services to more of the world’s population.”