International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 28

Benefits of bringing mobile banking to the unbanked
"There is no doubting the growth in popularity of mobile banking. According to Juniper Research, the market for mobile payments is expected to reach more than $600bn (£393bn) globally this year – double the figure of February 2011. And many development organisations are riding that telecom wave to reach people who don't have access to financial institutions."

Over 30 Million Sign Up for Mobile Banking
"The number of people using mobile banking services surpassed 30 million last year for the first time as smartphone use grew explosively. The Bank of Korea on Thursday said a total of 37.05 million people had signed up for mobile banking services as of the end of last year, an increase of 13.3 million people from the previous year. Two thirds of them were smartphone users."

Research and Markets: Mobile Money: Mobile Payments, Mobile Remittance, Mobile Banking & Mobile Commerce Market - Advanced Technologies, Value Chain, Worldwide Market Forecasts; Analysis (2013 - 2018)
"The growth in mobile telecommunication services and ubiquitous availability of mobile phones are creating unexplored business opportunities not only for the mobile operators, but to a range of other industry participants. Mobile phones are known to transfer information, where as Mobile money enables it to transfer cash from one entity to another, it acts as an alternate payment method to transfer cash/ credit/ check and make financial transactions with the mobile phone. The success of M-PESA, which was launched in 2007 in Kenya and other African regions, has made the operators to focus on this market."

Kenya’s M-Shwari crosses Ksh1 billion in mobile banking transactions a month
"Recent estimates put adoption for M-Pesa, Kenya’s wildly successul mobile payment service for the unbanked, at 17 million users. The service that allows users without bank accounts to complete simple financial transactions, received a boost through M-Shwari, a bolt-on service that allows M-Pesa users access to savings accounts and loans, in late 2012."

‘Mobile banking will see explosive growth in emerging markets’
"Mobile banking will be the front runner among various trends and technologies in the emerging markets banking landscape. Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India, expressed this view while delivering the Karnataka Bank Founders’ Day lecture here on Monday. Stating that the country has around 675 million active mobile telephone connections, he said mobile banking will witness explosive growth and change the entire banking scenario. Because of their reach, ease and capabilities, mobile devices have recorded penetration of more than 50 per cent in countries with per capita GDP as low as $500. A majority of mobile subscribers around the globe are located in emerging markets, he said."