Mobile Banking on the Increase in Developing Countries

Mobile banking is becoming more and more popular in countries of the Third World. While in developed countries almost all people have bank accounts, only a small part of the population in underdeveloped countries has access to banks.

In mobile banking a person who wants to send money does so by sending theamount via text to the receiver’s phone number. The person who receives the money goes to an authorized local shop that and withdraws the cash.

Mobile banking has become popular where there are few banks but where most of the people have a mobile phone. The potentialmarket is especially large in South America where only 35% of the people have bank accounts but 90% have mobile phones.

The number of mobile banking customers is expected to rise in Third World countries from currently 60 million to almost a billion in 2015. Over 80% of these costumers live in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In the developed world mobile banking has not become a serious option because most customers have bank accounts andtransfer their money via Internet banking. As more and more Americans and Europeans buy smartphones mobile banking will probably increase.

source : http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/mobile-banking-in-developing-countries.htm