The technology of carrying out on-the-spot transactions with ease is the reason users of mobile money accounts has continued to increase by the day all around the world.
The Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) stated that Mobile money account ownership grew from 16% in 2021 to 22% in 2022.
Mobile money, an electronic wallet service that stores funds in a secure electronic account linked to a mobile phone number. In some cases the wallet number will be the same as the phone number.
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The safety and ease of electronic payments make Mobile money a popular alternative to bank accounts.
It can be used on both smartphones and basic feature phones.
According to the global body representing telecommunication firms, the recent Payment Service Bank license granted to MTN and Airtel by the Central Bank of Nigeria is responsible for the growth.
Growth In Transaction Value
In a report entitled, ‘the State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023,’ it was recorded that “mobile money awareness and account ownership had grown from 16% to 22% in the last year among adults who have used a mobile phone, mobile money.
“Of all adults with a mobile money account, 88% have one registered in their own name (a nine percentage point increase year on year)”.
In 2022, registered mobile money accounts grew by 13% year-on-year. That is a risde from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2022 and this is partly due to regulatory changes in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Nigeria and Ethiopia.
The Sub-Saharan African region grew global active accounts on a 30-day basis, with more customers using mobile money accounts more frequently.
Digital transactions grew in 2022 with cash usage slowing down. Transaction values grew by 22% between 2021 and 2022, from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion.
Transaction value in Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries grew to $832 billion in 2022.
Interoperable Bank Transfers
GSMA noted that “however, the share of cash-based transactions in the overall transaction mix declined, with cash-in and cash-out transactions dropping nearly two percentage points.
“This is due to a significant rise in digital transactions, particularly interoperable bank transfers, and bill payments”.
The association stated that global daily transaction values were exceeding predictions with $3.45 billion transacted daily via mobile money in 2022.
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The total number of mobile agents grew by 41% year-on-year in 2022.
“The number of mobile money agents grew from 12 million in 2021 to around 17 million in 2022 – a staggering 41% year-on-year increase,” GSMA said.
“Much of this growth was in Nigeria where a liberalised regulatory regime has led to an increase in MMPs.
“Agents are an important part of any mobile network service and were responsible for two-thirds of all cash-in transactions in 2022.”
