ABI Research has a new study titled “Mobile Banking and Funds Transfer.” From the press release that talks about it, we find out that 170 million million mobile subscribers will make domestic person to person payments in 2011. To put the number in perspective, the research company says that this is nearly three times more users than those who will use their mobile phones to conduct traditional banking functions.
According to senior analyst Mark Beccue, it’s the developing world that is embracing mobile domestic person to person payments with enthusiasm wherever they are offered. “It is becoming the first financial service for previously ‘unbanked’ people, and may make a real contribution towards lifting them out of poverty,” he added.
However Beccue also talks about some impediments to this market’s development: “Growth of mobile financial services in the developing world is sometimes hindered by regulatory barriers. Every country has different banking rules. Some are more sophisticated, some less. Whoever is trying to put such a financial ecosystem together may have a lot of hoops to jump through. But they are increasingly successful despite the obstacles.”
More information about ABI Research’s study is available from their website…