Analysys Mason Reports Uneven Level of African M-Money Services

Mobile payment applications like Google (News - Alert) Wallet are becoming all the more popular in the United States and North America. Even Walt Disney World is starting to accept mobile payment applications the same way it accepts cash. The developed world isn’t the only place where mobile payments are picking up steam. The developing world is seeing a boom in the mobile payment, or m-payment service world, though there are still a few things that are keeping this vertical from being all that in can be in places like Africa.

A new report by Analysys (News - Alert) Mason shows that most registered m-money customers in emerging markets do not use the service actively. When talking about the small number of people who do actually use these services, they tend to stick to the most bascic offered. This means that users are going with peer-to-peer m-money transfer and airtime top-up.

Some companies have managed to find a decent amount of success, even if it’s not that consistent. Moneygram is one company that has managed to find itself a niche in Africa, having just announced it has opened more than 25,000 locations on the Continent. Analysys Mason has pointed out in its new report that even if people aren’t using the m-money applications and services as consistently as they might be expected, there are plenty of people adopting the technology.

While Moneygram has had quite a bit of success, there are other firms like Airtel (News - Alert) that have had a good year as well. According to the industry analyst, Airtel is one of the biggest m-money services in the continent with more than 30 million registered users. Despite the massive number of subscribers, just 17.7 percent (5.3 million) are considered active registered users. When it comes to these kinds of companies, only Safaricom seems to have gotten its customers to understand all that m-money applications and services can do. With more than 20 million registered users, more than 65 percent are considered active users.