A new analysis by Juniper Research of the rapidly evolving market for money transfer and remittances via mobile phones forecasts that in excess of 100m users globally will use their mobile phones to make international money transfers by 2013. These cross border mobile money transfers are currently in their infancy, but are expected to gain traction over the next two to three years, especially on migration routes such as Philippines/Middle East and Mexico/USA.
The report found that there is a significant opportunity for mobile money transfer service providers and vendors, for both national services between mobile users in a single country and internationally. The study explores how mobile money transfer will transform the ability of the ‘underbanked' population and migrant workers to make remittances, using their mobile phones as mobile wallets.
Report author Howard Wilcox explained: "The vast increase in migrant workers globally has fuelled the number of remittances being sent home to friends and families regularly. The mobile phone will become a vital enabler in developing countries because often many more people have phones than have bank accounts. The GSM Association Mobile Money Transfer global initiative emphasises the importance that is attached to this across the mobile industry as a whole."
Highlights from the report include:
- Mobile international transfers are forecast to grow in frequency as users become more accustomed to the process, exceeding one per month by 2013 on average globally.
- The opportunity for companies providing national and international money transfer services is forecast to exceed $5bn by 2013.
- The top 3 regions (W. Europe, N. America and Africa & Middle East) will represent over 75% of the global international mobile money transfer gross transaction value by 2013.
The report provides six year regional forecasts of mobile money transfers and remittances, providing data on subscriber take-up, transaction sizes and volumes for both national (domestic) and international transactions. Crucially, the report identifies the incremental ARPU opportunity for mobile network operators, arising from these new services. Case studies and interviews with companies pioneering in this market are also featured.