Johannesburg - Sub-Sahara Africa is adopting mobile financial services at a pace seen in few other places, presenting banks and mobile-network operators (MNOs) with a set of strategic choices that will go a long way toward determining their success in the region, according to a study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The use of mobile financial services in sub-Saharan Africa to do such things as pay utility bills and send money to relatives could produce an estimated $1.5bn in fees for mobile-money providers by 2019, according to the research.
The report says sub-Sahara Africans are looking for more-secure ways to borrow and save money and are open to other financial products delivered using mobile phones, including loans and insurance.