The number of registered mobile money accounts is growing by 13 percent year on year, from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2022, according to the GSMA’s annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023.
While it took the industry 17 years to reach the first 800 million customers, this is extremely significant growth as it has taken just five years to reach the next 800 million.
In 2022, daily transactions via mobile money reached $3.45 billion, exceeding the $3 billion amount predicted in 2021. Total transaction value for mobile money grew by 22 percent between 2021 and 2022, from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion.
The report shows there are now 315 live mobile money deployments across the globe, with peer to peer (P2P) transfers and cash-in/cash-out transactions still among the most popular use cases. Bill payments using mobile money grew by 36 percent – faster than any other use case – and the industry continues to focus on use case diversification, playing an important role in digitising economies.
Up to 400 million accounts were added during the pandemic alone. This rapid uptake is largely due to the technology’s role in enabling millions of people across low- and middle-income countries to access digital financial services. This upward trend continues, with the number of accounts active on a 30-day basis also growing by 13 per cent year-on-year to 401 million in 2022.
The report also shows that, during 2022, mobile money-enabled international remittances grew by 28 percent year on year – to $22 billion. During the pandemic, many diasporas sent more funds via mobile money to friends and family than ever before.
The number of mobile money agents increased 41 percent between 2021 and 2022. The number of agents went from 12 million in 2021 to 17.4 million in 2022. The number of active agents increased by 25 percent to 7.2 million in 2022.
