In 2024, the global mobile money industry continued its strong growth trajectory, fueled by robust expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as well as East Asia and the Pacific.
According to a new report by the GSM Association (GSMA), a non-profit trade association representing mobile network operators worldwide, 2024 marked two major milestones for the industry. First, the number of registered mobile money accounts surpassed the 2 billion threshold, representing an increase of 14% year-over-year (YoY). Second, monthly active accounts exceeded 500 million, marking a 11% YoY increase.
Transaction volumes and values also increased substantially. In 2024, approximately 108 billion transactions were processed via mobile money platforms, up 20% YoY, while total value reached US$1.68 trillion, representing a 16% increase.
Africa drives global mobile money growth
According to the report, the growth of the global mobile money industry in 2024 was largely driven by SSA. The region accounted for more than two-thirds of registered accounts in 2024, pushing its total number of registered accounts to more than one billion and doubling the number recorded in 2020. Within SSA, East Africa led regional growth, contributing 32% of new accounts, while West Africa added 21%.
In 2024, SSA maintained its status as the world’s largest mobile money market, hosting 165 live services, or 49% of the 336 operating globally.
Several country-led developments fueled this progress. In January, Togo lowered the tax rate on mobile money transfers from 18% to 10%. That same month, Uganda saw the launch of its first first-ever mobile credit scoring system, introduced by Airtel Money and gnuGrid Credit Reference Bureau.
In February, MTN’s Mobile Money Platform, MoMo, partnered with banking tech company Jumo to launch Qwikloan, a short-term loan facility for the South African market. This was followed in April with the launch of PayShap, South Africa’s real-time, low-value, interbank digital payments service.
In March, the Bank of Ghana increased mobile money balance limits by at least 50% and transaction limits by at least 60%. That same month, the country’s mobile money challenger Zeepay secured an additional US$3 million investment from Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund.
In June, Safaricom Ethiopia’s M-PESA and Dahabshiil signed a partnership to allow the Ethiopian diaspora to send money directly to M-PESA mobile wallets. That same month, Afrimoney launched a Visa card in Sierra Leone jointly with fintech startup Pyypl.
In SSA, mobile money is playing an increasingly critical role in the region’s economy. The sector’s contribution to the SSA’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose from approximately US$150 billion in 2022 to US$190 billion in 2023.
West Africa is recording the greatest impact, with mobile money contributing more than 5% to GDP in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Liberia. In East Africa, the same was true for Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.
In Central Africa, Cameroon, Congo and Gabon each saw a contribution between 5% and 8%, while in Southern Africa, where mobile money is less established, contributions to GDP generally remain lower than 5%.
East Asia and the Pacific sees second-fastest growth
In 2024, the East Asia and the Pacific region emerged as the second-fastest growing region for mobile money, both in terms of all registered accounts and active 30-day accounts worldwide.
The number of registered money mobile accounts grew by 14% to reach 428 million, accounting for 20% of all global registered accounts.
East Asia and the Pacific also posted an 18% year-over-year (YoY) growth in active 30-day accounts, second only to the Middle East (28%). East Asia and the Pacific was one of the few regions where active 30-day accounts grew faster than registered accounts in 2024, highlighting deepening user engagement.
Enabling regulations in markets such as Cambodia, and Vietnam have supported the growth of digital payments, and consequently, mobile money.
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) established in 2018 the Fintech Steering Committee to promote and regulate digital financial services (DFS). This was followed in 2020, with the introduction of a Payment System Operator license to promote digital payments. In 2023, the government launched the Financial Technology Development Policy 2023–2028, aimed at enhancing financial inclusion, improving stability, and driving innovation.
As a result, by 2021, 33.4% of the adult population had a financial account, up from 22.2% in 2014 Mobile money providers including Wing, TrueMoney and AMK have also played an important role in advancing financial inclusion in Cambodia.
In Vietnam, the government has set a target for 80% of adults to use electronic payment methods by 2025. Through the National Digital Transformation Programme, it has actively promoted mobile money as an alternative to cash transactions.
By September 2024, there were nearly 10 million mobile money users in Vietnam, with around 71% of these people living in rural, mountainous and remote areas
Across East Asia and the Pacific, many providers have evolved into fully fledged digital banks. In Cambodia, Wing acquired a commercial bank license in 2020, having held a specialized bank license since 2014. The new license allowed it to offer loans, credit, savings, debit cards, bill payments, insurance products, small business financing, international remittances and payroll services.
Wing Bank is the leading mobile money provider in Cambodia, boasting nearly 15 million registered users out of a population of 17 million. Its success can be attributed to its “phygital” approach, which combines 11,000 nationwide agents with a mobile app that’s used by more than four million customers.
In the Philippines, mobile money provider Maya was granted a digital bank license in 2021, allowing it to offer credit to the unbanked and underbanked. Maya relies on an alternative credit-scoring model that uses customers’ payment records to gauge risk.
Maya, which serves 5.4 million customers, achieved group-wide profitability last year. Deposits climbed 58.5% YoY, while its borrower base nearly doubled to 1.6 million, and cumulative loan disbursements hit PHP 67.6 billion (US$1.2 billion) in 2024.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
