Tag: mobile money

New report highlights the growth of mobile commerce across 13 countries

MEF, a global trade association focused on the mobile space, has release the first report in its Global Consumer Insights Series on Mobile Money. The report highlights the growing popularity of mobile payments across 13 countries. Mobile commerce has been making strong growth in many of the world’s most prominent markets. Much of this growth is being driven by the growing number of people that have smartphones and tablets and how much they are beginning to use these devices in their daily lives.

Report shows 15% of device users have made a mobile purchase in 2013

According to the report, some 15% of device users throughout 2013 made some form of mobile payment from their smartphones or tablets. The majority of these people made a purchase using some kind of mobile wallet application. These applications primarily leverage NFC technology, which allows digital information to be transmitted over short distances. Mobile wallets that do not make use of NFC technology are becoming more popular, however, as NFC-enabled mobile devices are still somewhat rare.

Mobile money users are becoming more important to businesses around the world

The report shows that mobile money users tend to spend more on individual purchases than others. The report notes that mobile money users are 10% less likely to make low-value payments and 14% more likely to make mid-value payments.  These particular consumers are becoming an important demographic for businesses that wish to engage the mobile audience, especially because these consumers are more likely to participate in mobile-centric initiatives, particularly those that leverage some kind of engagement technology, such as QR codes.

Mobile-only culture is beginning to emerge in developing countries

MEF’s report suggests that a “mobile-only” culture is beginning to emerge in developing countries. This involves people becoming more dependent on their mobile devices and making use of services that are only available through mobile platforms. Mobile banking, for instance, is becoming quite popular and a growing number of consumers are beginning to manage their finances solely through these mobile platforms. Mobile banking is expected to become much more popular than it already is as more financial institutions begin targeting mobile consumers.

Results from a recent study are showing that content and shopping will rise in African countries.

The outcomes of an MEF study have revealed that industry leaders in the three participating countries feel that mobile commerce and content are on their way up, and that this channel will experience a strong future.

This is particularly true among the study participants in Kenya who expect considerable revenue growth.

One in three respondents to the African Growth Market Study, which examined mobile commerce and content, stated that end-user revenues over this channel have risen by a greater amount than had been anticipated, last year. This revealed considerable optimism for the future of the market, though it was not surprising to many who have already been witnessing some of the most rapid growth in m-banking and money transfers among smartphone users in the world.

The insight from the study also went on to identify some of the influence of m-payments in mobile commerce.

Within the studies, it was revealed that the main source of end-user revenue was made up of 30 percent mobile commerce, 37 percent social networks, but also a very large 53 percent m-banking.

For this reason, beyond mobile commerce, mobile payments are being seen as a substantial opportunity. The growth in this sector is being seen as the largest and fastest, currently estimated at 87 percent. This is followed by marketing over this channel. As the adoption of smartphones rapidly grows in this region and businesses build their confidence in it – and shrink their confidence in traditional downloadable content such as games and ringtones – other broader areas are starting to take off.

The CEO of MEF, Rimma Perelmuter, discussed the mobile commerce report by saying that it “provides an industry-wide snapshot on mobile activity and opportunities in Kenya today as part of our regional roadmap of activities, following the launch of our dedicated MEF Africa office in association with Vodacom in late 2012. Kenya is a market of great interest to our members and as the study clearly demonstrates a showcase for success, particularly in mobile money.”

The mobile commerce survey was supported by Nation Media Group and was conducted by MEF, along with KPMG