The number of active mobile money users rose 41 percent to more than 100 million in December 2014 against 73 million in December 2013, said GSMA.
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There are 255 mobile money services in 89 countries and it is available in 61 percent of developing markets. Mobile network operators (MNOs) have led in the provision of 149 of these services. In Sub-Saharan Africa, over 50 percent of MNOs have launched a mobile money service and by December 2014, 23 percent of mobile connections there were linked with a mobile money account.
In three-quarters of the markets where mobile money is available, agent outlets outnumber bank branches and in 25 markets, there are more than ten times as many mobile money agents as bank branches.
Half of all new mobile money launches took place outside of the Sub-Saharan Africa region. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of active accounts increased 50 percent over the year.
In 2014, operators in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tanzania interconnected their services to allow their customers to send money directly to mobile wallets on other networks.
In December 2014, transactions involving external companies using mobile money as a platform to receive and make payments drove the growth in mobile money globally, representing 24 percent of the total value of all transactions processed in that month.
GSMA noted that regulatory barriers, low levels of investment and the need for greater industry collaboration limit the ability for mobile money to reach scale.
