State of the Industry 2014: Mobile Financial Services for the Unbanked

This report provides mobile financial services practitioners with insights into the important developments taking place in mobile money, mobile insurance, mobile savings, and mobile credit. It is also designed to provide other stakeholders, such as regulators, senior executives in the telecom and banking sectors, and international development agencies, with an overview of the industry and its impact on the financial lives of unbanked and underbanked users. Key highlights from the report include:

• 255 mobile money services are now live across 89 countries;
• While competition is heating up in markets where mobile money is available, a growing number of mobile network operators (MNOs) are showing interest in the development of interoperable solutions;
• Regulators are increasingly recognizing the major role that non-bank providers of mobile money services can play in fostering financial inclusion;
• Providers are now expanding into adjacent markets for mobile financial services, leveraging their strengths in mobile money to provide mobile insurance, mobile savings, and mobile credit to customers who previously never had access to formal financial services;
• Number of registered mobile money accounts globally grew to reach just under 300 million in 2014;
• There was a steep increase in the number of international remittances sent using mobile money.