The figure comes from the GSMA’s most recent State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money
The GSMA claims there are now 411 million registered mobile money accounts around the world, with a quarter of that figure coming from new accounts activated last year.
These numbers come from the GSMA’s latest ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’ published on February 23. Mobile money accounts include apps which allow users to make financial transactions from their smartphones.
The report claims up to 100 million new mobile money accounts were activated last year alone. Over a billion transactions were processed. As of December 2015, 134 million mobile money accounts were still being actively used.
GSMA chief regulatory officer John Giusti said: “Over the last decade, mobile money has done more to extend the reach of financial services than traditional bricks and mortar banking were able to do over the last century. With 411 million mobile money accounts today, mobile is an increasingly critical platform for expanding financial inclusion globally.”
Further statistics in the report claim there are over 271 mobile money services in 93 countries. Over a billion transactions were processed last year. According to the GSMA, over half of new mobile money services were launched in Latin America and the Caribbean.