When 34-year-old Amina Yusuf, a vegetable trader in Kano, northern Nigeria, first began using a mobile money account in 2022, she was sceptical.
“I didn’t trust it at first,” she said. “But after losing money twice on long trips to the bank, I tried depositing through a local agent. Now I save every week without leaving the market.” Amina’s phone, once only for calls and SMS, has become her bank branch, her wallet, and her insurance against financial shocks.
In Kenya’s rural Kisumu County, Joseph Otieno, a 22-year-old motorcycle taxi rider, tells a similar story during a call with BusinessDay. He uses his phone not just to receive daily payments from passengers but also to borrow small sums to fuel his bike.
“I don’t need to wait for banks anymore,” he said. “If my bike breaks down, I get help from mobile money instantly. It keeps me working.”
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According to the latest Global Findex Database 2021 by the World Bank, mobile money accounts are driving an unprecedented expansion of financial access, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where they have become the dominant form of account ownership.
The global account ownership rose from 51 per cent in 2011 to 79 per cent in 2024, with mobile money contributing significantly to that growth in low- and middle-income countries.
The report disclosed that in Sub-Saharan Africa, the cradle of the mobile money revolution, 40 per cent of adults now own a mobile money account, up from 27 per cent in 2021.
“This surge explains much of the region’s broader increase in overall account ownership, particularly among women, farmers, and small entrepreneurs who were previously excluded from formal banking,” it said.
In Nigeria, according to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), the value of mobile money transactions grew by 20.3 per cent to N20.7 trillion in Q1’25 from N17.2 trillion in Q1’24.
When compared to global peers, Latin America and the Caribbean have also seen a dramatic shift. In just three years, mobile money usage there rose from 22 per cent in 2021 to 37 per cent in 2024. While not as dominant as in Africa, mobile platforms in this region are often linked to traditional banks, creating hybrid financial systems that extend services to millions.
Narrowing Gender and Income Gaps
The expansion of mobile money has had profound social consequences, especially for women. The Global Findex finds that in low- and middle-income economies, 73 per cent of women had accounts in 2024, up from just 50 per cent a decade earlier.
Mobile phone ownership among women has played a crucial role in this transformation, narrowing the gender gap in financial inclusion.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, where cash reliance remains high, women still lag behind men in both phone ownership and account access. Yet targeted mobile solutions are beginning to close the divide. For instance, digital wallets tied to family remittances allow women to manage household income independently, without requiring them to travel to distant bank branches.
Still, income remains a bigger driver of disparities than gender. Adults in the poorest 40 percent of households are significantly less likely to own phones, especially smartphones, than wealthier peers.
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But income remains a bigger barrier than gender. “If you are poor, you are more likely to lack both a phone and an account,” the report noted. “It’s not just about being a woman or a man; it’s about affordability.”
Mobile money as a tool for savings
Perhaps the most striking evidence of mobile money’s impact is its role in helping people build financial resilience. In 2024, 40 per cent of adults in low- and middle-income economies saved formally using an account, up from just 24 per cent in 2021.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 23 per cent of adults saved with mobile money, compared with 19 per cent in Latin America.
For Amina, the Nigerian trader, this means she can now save small sums daily, something that would have been impractical through traditional banks. In Uganda, data shows that adults who save via mobile money do so more frequently than those using banks, highlighting its convenience.
Moreover, digital transaction records give small entrepreneurs the credibility to borrow formally in the future. In economies such as Ghana and Kenya, over 20 per cent of adults borrowed from their mobile money providers in 2024, an unprecedented expansion of credit access.
Digital payments are powering everyday transactions
Beyond savings and borrowing, the report said digital payments are reshaping commerce. Across low- and middle-income economies, 61 per cent of adults made or received a digital payment in 2024, a 27-point increase from 2014.
Merchant payments, in particular, are on the rise. By 2024, 42 per cent of adults had made digital payments to businesses, compared with 35 per cent in 2021. For small vendors, this is more than convenience; it is a pathway to credit. Digital payment histories serve as proof of income, unlocking loans to expand businesses and create jobs.
Governments are also accelerating inclusion by digitalising wage and social transfer payments. Approximately 75 per cent of government transfers in low- and middle-income economies are now made digitally, ensuring safer and more transparent transactions.
The Unconnected and the Vulnerable
Despite progress, the report disclosed that 1.3 billion people worldwide still lack a financial account, many of them in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. A third of adults without accounts in low- and middle-income economies also do not own a mobile phone, leaving them cut off from the digital revolution.
Affordability is the main barrier. It added. Mobile phones and data remain expensive for poor households. Furthermore, security risks persist: only about half of mobile money users in Sub-Saharan Africa protect their phones with passwords. Fraud and unexpected fees erode trust, underscoring the need for stronger consumer protection.
While account ownership has risen, financial health has not improved as fast. Just 56 per cent of adults in developing economies could raise emergency funds within 30 days, unchanged since 2021.
The future of financial inclusion
Mobile money has transformed the financial landscape for millions like Amina and Joseph, turning basic phones into lifelines of economic opportunity. The Global Findex Database 2025 makes clear that mobile connectivity has driven much of the world’s progress toward universal financial inclusion.
Yet the journey is unfinished. The report said tackling affordability, building consumer trust, and linking digital accounts to meaningful financial products such as insurance and credit will determine whether the next billion unbanked people can join the digital economy.
As Amina puts it, “With my phone, I now have a future. But many women in my village are still waiting for theirs.”
