Mobile money services are growing faster than predicted around the globe with the popularity of digital services on the rise.
While men in South Asia are actively being a part of this growth, social norms and underlying structural inequalities tend to prevent many women from accessing and using mobile technology, including mobile money.
GSMA's annual “State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023” published Tuesday, had several insights on how mobile money is catching on around the world.
According to the findings of the GSMA report, 19% of women living in Bangladesh said that they do not own an MFS account because their family disapproves of it.
The rate is even higher in India (28%) and Pakistan (23%).
In India, the rate of family approval is close between men and women. But in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the differences are more than double.
According to the survey, only 9% of men do not have family approval while using mobile money services in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, the rate is 8%.
Moreover, what's different between these three South Asian countries is that women from both India and Pakistan prefer to use direct cash over mobile money compared to men.
In India, 60% of men and 66% of women prefer cash transactions over other mediums. In Pakistan, the percentage is 60% and 70% respectively.
However, 52% of men in Bangladesh prefer cash while 44% of women do so, meaning that Bangladeshi women are more likely to use mobile money services than men.
In terms of registered MFS accounts, South Asia is in the third position with 336 million users among the six regions the world was divided into.
With 763 million users, which is almost half of the total registered mobile money users of 1.6 billion all across the globe, Sub-Saharan Africa is leading the mobile money market.
The African continent witnessed tremendous growth in terms of both transaction volume and transaction value as well.
Getting back to the country-wise barrier chart, it was seen that only 2% of Ethiopian women said that their family did not approve of them having a mobile money account. The percentage is the same for men in the African nation.
It should be mentioned that Ethiopia was very late in adopting the concept of mobile money. It was only in 2021 that Ethiopia got its first nationwide mobile money service Telebirr, provided by the state-owned telecom company Ethio Telecom.
In Nigeria, 7% of women and 3% of men have to face barriers from their families. The difference between men and women is also more than double here, but the overall percentage is very small.
It is worth mentioning that in both these African nations, women believe that they have more alternatives to money transfer other than MFS compared to men.
Mobile money is continuing to drive financial inclusion for the world's unbanked, particularly among women in rural communities, where access to mobile money can play a transformational and empowering role.
However, women in low and middle-income countries are currently 28% less likely than men to own a mobile money account, according to the GSMA report.
The gender gap in mobile money account ownership and usage is a missed opportunity for both women and the mobile money platforms. Women who use mobile money can become more financially included, economically independent and play a stronger role as financial decision-makers.
In turn, this can have a positive impact on their communities and the broader economy, according to the GSMA report.
Across most of the countries surveyed, more than half of women reported that mobile money helps them better manage their finances and everyday affairs, such as shopping and paying bills.
In all countries surveyed, most women reported that mobile money helps them save time too.
Pandemic-driven uptake of mobile money
As the world increasingly moves on from Covid-19, mobile money services have continued to show resilient growth that was instigated during the pandemic.
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% year-on-year to 401 million in 2022.
The report also shows that during 2022, mobile money-enabled international remittances grew by 28% year on year – to $22 billion.
During the pandemic, many diasporas sent more funds via mobile money to friends and family than ever before. As a result, international remittances grew significantly in both 2020 and 2021, as many senders favoured mobile money for its efficiency, speed, safety and cost-effectiveness.
The trend continued at a slower rate in 2022.
Global mobile money market
In 2022, daily transactions via mobile money reached $3.45 billion, exceeding the $3 billion amount predicted in 2021.
The total transaction value for mobile money grew by an incredible 22% between 2021 and 2022, from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion, according to the GSMA report.
However, in many areas worldwide, more work is still needed to help give underserved communities access to safe, secure and affordable financial services.
The 2023 report shows there are now 315 live mobile money deployments across the globe, with peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers and cash-in or cash-out transactions still among the most popular use cases.
Bill payments using mobile money grew by 36% year-on-year – faster than any other use case - and the industry continues to focus on use case diversification, playing an essential role in digitizing economies.
