Mobile Money – An Overview

Brad JonesManaging Director, Mobile Accelerate

Introduction • Access to finance is indelibly linked to improvement

of livelihoods for those who live at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

• Financial inclusion is becoming a major driver for governments and central banks in emerging markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

• Mobile penetration is rising sharply in these markets, fuelled by low cost handsets, cheap SIM cards and calling rates.

• Coupling the massive growth of mobile to financial inclusion objectives presents significant opportunities to governments in emerging markets.

Financial Inclusion Metrics

55%

35%

28%

Account at a formal financial institution (% age 15+)

East Asia & Pacific

Debit Card (% age 15+)

Saved at a financial institution in the past year (% age 15+)

24%

15%

14%

Sub-Saharan Africa

33%

7%

11%

South Asia

Financial Inclusion and Mobile• Mobile based financial inclusion is essentially where

financial institutions or entities regulated by central banks provide access to financial services through the mobile channel.

• Various names are used to describe these services, including mobile money, mobile banking, agent banking, branchless banking and mobile payments.

• Focus of this discussion will be on the provision of financial services to the unbanked, using mobile as a channel, and non-financial services entities as distribution partners, or agents – let’s call this mobile money.

Mobile Money Enablers• Low Banking Penetration

• High Levels of Urbanization

• Significant Remittance Corridors

• Large Percentage Under Poverty Line

• Significant Population

• Young Population

• High Mobile Penetration

Mobile Money Enablers• Low Banking Penetration

• High Levels of Urbanization

• Significant Remittance Corridors

• Large Percentage Under Poverty Line

• Significant Population

• Young Population

• High Mobile Penetration

Market opening of mobile services in Papua New Guinea

saw mobile penetration increase from 13.4% to well over 50% in

less then three years.

Barriers to Banking the Poor• Customers are intimidated by bank branches and feel that

banks aren’t relevant to them – only rich people go to banks!

• Customers may live in locations geographically remote to bank branches, and there is little incentive for banks to open branches in these locations

• Customers who are poor may find it difficult to provide necessary KYC information to open an account

• Banks often require minimum deposits to open accounts which may be more then monthly salary for someone who is poor and bank fees can be a significant proportion of monthly income for the poor

• Banks in emerging markets will focus on customers who provide higher profitability, such as emerging middle class and high net worth

Mobile Money can address these barriers• No need to visit a bank branch to become a

customer – customers have accounts, or mobile wallets activated remotely from bank branches by ‘agents’, who are appointed to perform these services by the service provider.

• No need to visit a bank branch for transactions – the mobile becomes the channel to access account information, transfer money and conduct deposits and withdrawals at agents.

• No need for full and intensive KYC processes – transaction limits apply and often central banks take a moderate risk-based view on KYC requirements for the poor.

Mobile Money in Emerging Markets

Customers are acquired through agents who do KYC checks and acquisition

A customer only needs to use a basic feature phone to access the service,

through SMS or USSD

Customers can purchase mobile air time, make purchases or pay bills using their

electronic wallet

Customers deposit and withdraw cash through an agent network, tapping into

existing local liquidity

Make purchase $12.95? Fee $0.06

Accept?

Reject?

Customers are signed up and activated through agents, who are responsible for collection of KYC

information and registering customer details.

Source: http://thereboot.org/blog/project/china/

Customers use their mobile phones to access account information, send money to friends and family, and to authenticate transactions. Phones

can be low-end feature phones using USSD/SMS.

Customers transact through agents, who provide the ability for customers to deposit and withdraw

their funds. Agents are appointed and managed by the mobile money service provider.

Agents can be any type of shop, including mobile retailers, grocery stores or microfinance branches.

Agents need to be monitored and controlled to ensure compliance.

Saving through Mobile Money in Cambodia – short video

38 Mobile Money Operations in Asia Pacific

Source: GSMA Mobile Money Deployment Tracker

Benefits to governments on introduction of mobile money• Leverage Mobile Money for

Government and Donor Payments and Collections improving transparency and efficiency of payments

• Leverage Mobile Money to monitor financial flows, collect tax revenues, and reduce illicit activity.

• Leverage Mobile Money to improve financial inclusion and aid poverty alleviation programs.

• Approvals to launch• Risk Management Framework of

the Operator / Bank• Compliance with AML / CTF• Deposit of funds for e-money

providers• Use of agents• Consumer protection• Minimum technical standards• Reporting• Fair access to channels

Regulators need to ensure that they focus on:

Summary• Mobile money is an innovative method to improve

access to finance through alternative channels.

• Models are emerging, but there are many precedents to observe from a regulatory and operational perspective.

• Governments can leverage mobile money to assist with poverty alleviation, transparency and efficiency of payments.