Africa: customers are more into mobile banking payments

Mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa were set to surpass 635 million by the end of 2014, a figure expected to increase around 930 million by the end of 2019, according to a report issued by the Swedish telecom operator Ericsson, ndtv.com reports.

Data from the World Bank for 2014 also showed that while less than 29% of people aged 15 and over in the region had a traditional bank account, around 10% possessed an alternative accessible by mobile phone. That figure rose to over 50% in countries like Gabon, Kenya and Sudan. Overall, the World Bank found 16% of sub-Saharan mobile users have used their phones for banking purposes a figure larger than any other global region, and ripe for far wider use still.

In 2014 alone, about USD 67 billion in funds were transferred by African expatriates back to people on the continent. With fees charged by mobile banking companies for transactions generally lower than traditional intermediaries like Western Union, the growth potential for financial phone applications appears enormous. For now, however, telecom operators in Africa largely limit mobile services to buying phone credits, paying water and electricity bills, or making money transfers and cash withdrawals relatively basic but considerably handy services to local clients.

The Boston Consulting Group estimates that further development of mobile payment applications could generate as much as USD 1.5 billion in sales by 2019, when it says the number of Africans possessing a mobile phone should increase by another 25%.

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