Supporting Strategies in Mobile Money

The FITS Project is a multiyear research initiative providing critical data, analysis and insights to stakeholders in the mobile money field in particular, and those in financial inclusion generally. InterMedia is currently working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor program to implement FITS in Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda, with more countries likely to be added soon. Read more..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the fits mobile money data center

 

 

 

The data center is a user-friendly tool for viewing analyzing data from the project's annual surveys, which look at financial needs and patterns from the view of the consumer, including:

1. details the financial behaviors and mobile money habits at the household level, based on interviews with heads of households;
2. insights on the consumer experience with particular mobile money services, based on interviews with individual users of these services selected from the same households;
3. in-depth demographic and behavioral information that lets users segment results for specific population groups, such as rural dwellers or the "unbanked."

Watch the data center how-to video

Fits reports

 

Mobile Money in Pakistan
Nine in 10 Pakistani households—including poor, rural and unbanked households—have access to a mobile phone and a SIM card. However, the rates of m-money registration and use are low, according to a new report, Mobile Money in Pakistan: Use, Barriers and Opportunities.

There are several financial service areas with potential for market growth. Non-remittance payments provide the largest opportunities for m-money expansion. Ninety-four percent of surveyed households reported sending at least one payment in the past six months, with the government (69 percent of payments) and utility companies (24 percent of payments) receiving the largest number of those cash payments. Ten percent of households reported receiving payments in the past six months, with the government serving as the sender of two-thirds (72 percent) of those payments in the form of salaries and/or benefits.

Another area for potential m-money growth is savings. Two in five households report saving money in one way or another, including one in five households that save with formal financial institutions. However, even among households that use m-money, saving on an m-money account is rare (0.4 percent).

Mobile Money in Tanzania

 The Tanzanian market shows potential for further mobile money (m-money) adoption, according to a new InterMedia report, Mobile Money in Tanzania: Use, Barriers, and Opportunity. Sixty-three percent of surveyed households have access to a mobile phone, and fifty-six percent of households own at least one active SIM card, a requirement for opening an m-money account. Even among rural, unbanked and poor households (those living on less than $2 a day), about one-half of households have access to a mobile phone and own a SIM card.

The leading challenge to m-money uptake is the inconsistent service quality offered by m-money agents. The large majority of registered users reported they had encountered problems with agents. Another impediment to m-money uptake suggested by the survey findings is an insufficient understanding of m-money applications by potential and current users.

Mobile Money in Uganda
This survey finds significant potential for mobile money expansion in Uganda, including among bottom-of-the-pyramid populations. Sixty-two percent of all surveyed households have at least one active SIM card—the only requirement for using m-money. Moreover, more than half of unbanked households and households living below the poverty line own a SIM card.

Limited uptake of m-money, as well as limited use of services beyond remittances, appears to be related to an incomplete understanding of the available services among m-money users and nonusers. An insufficient number of m-money agents, inconsistent service quality and low liquidity have also emerged as serious impediments to uptake and more frequent use of m-money, particularly in the rural areas.  Read the full report here.

Additional FITS Reports:
Click here for the first Pakistan mini-survey
Click here for the first Tanzania mini-survey
Click here for the second Tanzania mini-survey
Click here for the third Tanzania mini-survey
Click here for highlights of the Uganda FITS report
Click here for easy-to-load low resolution version of the complete Uganda report and the Uganda highlights.
Click here for results of the first, second, and third Ugandan mini-surveys.