The mobile money industry witnessed substantial growth in 2021, processing a record $1 trillion transactions globally.
The industry also enjoyed a substantial increase in the number of registered accounts, up 18% since 2020 reaching 1.35 billion globally while the volume of person-to-person transactions was up to more than 1.5 million every hour, according to the 10th annual ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’ by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, GSMA – an association which represents the interests of mobile operators globally.
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The report revealed that one of the most significant drivers of growth was merchant payments, which almost doubled year on year, reaching an average of $5.5 billion in transactions per month.
“2021 was the year mobile money started to really diversify to B2B services. Beyond traditional person-to-person transactions, such as transferring money to family or friends, the industry is now central in helping small businesses operate more efficiently and serve their customers better” said Max Cuvellier, Head of Mobile for Development, GSMA.
The report, which added that Mobile money is playing an important role in the daily lives of people and businesses, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), highlighted how it serves as a driving force for financial inclusion for the world’s most vulnerable, particularly empowering women to take more control over their finances and purchase goods that they urgently need.
It, however, called for concerted action from policymakers, the private sector, donors and other stakeholders to address the mobile money gender gap across LMICs and ensure that existing inequalities are not further entrenched, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Owning a mobile phone is an obvious prerequisite to using mobile money and women across LMIC’s are 7% less likely than men to own a mobile phone. Overall, 143 million fewer women own a mobile phone than men. Additional barriers to mobile money access include a lack of awareness of mobile money and a deficit in perceived relevance, knowledge and skills,” it added.
The report added that access to humanitarian aid, utilities and agricultural solutions has been enhanced by mobile money.
