Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.: Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.

2 billion. Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years. Source: GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, 2025.

Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.: Adults with a financial account, 2011 versus 2024.

In a decade, an account became the norm.. Adults with a financial account, 2011 versus 2024. Source: World Bank Global Findex, 2011 and 2024.

Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.: Access points per 100,000 adults.

The agents outnumber the branches, two hundred to one.. Access points per 100,000 adults. Source: GSMA (agents, 2024); World Bank / IMF Financial Access Survey (Sub-Saharan Africa branches, 2023).

Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.: Women with a financial account, low- and middle-income economies, 2024.

Nearly three in four women now hold an account.. Women with a financial account, low- and middle-income economies, 2024. Source: World Bank Global Findex, 2024.

capsrow / Africa and the Middle East

Invisible Giant

Mobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.

Count financial inclusion in people, not dollars, and the Global South stops looking like a frontier.

By capsrow · Updated July 2026

2 billionMobile money doubled to two billion accounts in five years.Source: GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, 2025.
In a decade, an account became the norm.Adults with a financial account, 2011 versus 2024.Source: World Bank Global Findex, 2011 and 2024.
The agents outnumber the branches, two hundred to one.Access points per 100,000 adults.Source: GSMA (agents, 2024); World Bank / IMF Financial Access Survey (Sub-Saharan Africa branches, 2023).
Nearly three in four women now hold an account.Women with a financial account, low- and middle-income economies, 2024.Source: World Bank Global Findex, 2024.

Count financial inclusion in people, not dollars, and the Global South stops looking like a frontier.

Registered mobile-money accounts crossed two billion worldwide in 2024 - double the number just five years earlier - and more than two-thirds of them sit in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, account ownership climbed from 42 in 100 adults in 2011 to 90 in 2024. The corner-shop agent, not the bank branch, carried it: agents now outnumber branches by more than two hundred to one.

The rails were built for the person, not the balance sheet.

This is the infrastructure that banks the rest of the Global South.

Sources. Source: GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, 2025. Source: World Bank Global Findex, 2011 and 2024. Source: GSMA (agents, 2024); World Bank / IMF Financial Access Survey (Sub-Saharan Africa branches, 2023). Source: World Bank Global Findex, 2024.