Mobile money growth continues across regions—IMF

International Monetary Fund has said in its 2018 financial service survey that mobile money is growing rapidly globally across all regions. According to the IMF, “The 2018 Financial Survey Access FAS, suggests that low-income countries are leading the way in mobile money adoption. On average, the number of mobile money accounts in a low-income economy is more than twice the number of bank accounts per 1,000 adults”. 

The survey report said “While Africa continues to lead the mobile money revolution, other regions are not far behind. In countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Guyana, mobile money services are growing fast in terms of both the number of accounts and transactions. Mobile money accounts are more prevalent than bank accounts in low income economies 

“FAS data shows that although financial inclusion gender gaps remain, some countries have made significant progress towards greater financial inclusion of women, suggesting the need to study the factors contributing to the closing of this gap. These factors may include targeted schemes offered by microfinance institutions e.g., Malaysia; and simplified deposit accounts regulations as in Chile. 

It also said “Two FAS indicators have been adopted as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicator framework, the number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults; and the number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults. These indicators are used to monitor Target 8.10, which aims to measure the strengthening of the capacity of domestic financial institutions to expand access to banking, financial services and insurance for all”.