[UgaBYTES] International Mobile Money Transfer Services to Exceed $65bn by 2014

[Mwathi Francis]

With mobile penetration reaching 100 per cent in many developed markets, the
mobile phone will soon be in virtually everyone's pocket. Payments and
banking are currently major areas of growth in the mobile world and these
are set to become even more specialized than they are at the moment.
According to a new report from Juniper Research the international mobile
money transfer market will be worth in excess of US$65 billion by 2014,
based on gross transaction values - driven principally from migrant workers
based in developed countries.

The huge potential for mobile money transfer can be seen from the sheer
volume of cross-border remittances typically sent through existing channels
such as banks and money transfer agencies. Measured flows have grown
exponentially over the last decade, with an estimated US$248billion sent
primarily from industrialised countries to the world's emerging markets in
2007. Although remittance flows are currently experiencing short-term
decline, existing services and pilot projects have shown operators a
feasible route towards gaining a share of those large remittance flows
expected by and new mobile remittance services are expected by 2011 at the
latest. Operators and banks in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa are
in the process of deploying services primed to encourage and exploit
potential growth.

Major operators with international and inter-regional footprints such as
Vodafone and Orascom Telecom have announced their intention to deploy mobile
remittance, which they hope will act as a catalyst for the wider adoption of
mWallet-enabled transaction services. Mobile remittance offers a speedy,
cost effective and convenient channel for people to send money regularly to
friends and family at home, who themselves may not have bank accounts.

The mobile money transfer report also revealed a new emerging sector for
microcredits, saving accounts and insurance payments. Known as
"sophisticated financial services" these services are entirely focused on
developing countries where users do not have access to traditional banking
or financial services or simply use alternative means of payment
traditionally such as physically transporting cash, or storing cash savings
at home. The report found that is new market for financial services on the
mobile, can add to the attractiveness of mobile money services, and help to
reduce mobile operator churn.

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Francis Mwathi
Support Community Facilitator
UgaBYTES Initiatives (www.ugabytes.org)
Telecentr.org (www.telecentrecommunity.ning.com)
Tel: +256 414 370163
Mob: +256 783 010269
Skype: francis.mwathi
E-Mail: mfrancis at ugabytes.org