Tag: mobile money

Decoupling SIM Cards from Mobile Money: A Critical Path for Smaller Operators to Compete?

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Decoupling SIM Cards from Mobile Money: A Critical Path for Smaller Operators to Compete?
In many African markets, including Ghana and Kenya, mobile money remains tightly coupled to SIM card ownership. Your phone number is your wallet. While this integration worked brilliantly to drive initial adoption, it has also cemented the dominance of major telecom providers who control both mobile connectivity and financial access.
But what if we rethought this model? What if smaller mobile money operators could decouple SIM registration from mobile wallet ownership — allowing customers to use their services without first becoming phone service subscribers?

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What If MTN Ghana Became a Bank? Would It Be Bigger Than Your Bank?

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I left the conference thinking about what it would look like if telecom companies in Ghana could get banking licenses. I conducted an analysis of the potential effects, focusing on MTN due to its significant market share. It is important to note that MTN has clearly stated it is not seeking a banking license.

My analysis is based on data from the Ghana Banking Industry Report 2023 (A Report by LIMA Partners), the NCA data subscription analysis for December 2022 to January 2023, MTN Ghana’s FY 2023 results, and the BFT Banking Industry’s Performance in 2023 at a glance article, which is based on the summary of macroeconomic and financial data released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

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The State of Mobile Money in Africa 2024,it’s evolving use cases and a couple of tough questions

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The “GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2024” underscores mobile money’s critical role in global financial inclusion, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa with 548 million accounts driving significant GDP growth. West Africa’s boom in mobile money, spurred by innovative regulations and non-MNO services, contrasts with East Africa’s MNO-led model. Use cases are expanding beyond transactions to remittances and merchant payments, fueling economic development. Technological advances and regulation prompt this sector’s promising future, offering transformative potential especially in underbanked regions.

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