70% mobile phones reside in developing countries

An estimated 70 per cent of all mobile phones globally are located in developing countries, says the organizers of Mobile Money Summit 2010, which ended last weekend in Brazil.

A press statement made available to ITRealms Online, they said that this growth has helped to spur growth of mobile payments, for instance in making and receiving payments directly with a mobile phone rather than by traditional methods.

“Access to mobile payments holds a special significance in these regions because it makes low-cost financial services available to millions of people for the first time,” part of the press statement read.

Meanwhile, the business rationale for mobile money is compelling according to the 2009 GSMA-CGAP Mobile Money Market Study released recently.

This study revealed that by 2012, mobile network operators (MNOs) are poised to earn $7.8 billion in direct and indirect revenues from serving 364 million clients, the vast majority of whom are based in developing countries.

ITRealms Online recalled that historically, poor people have been excluded from payment systems because the transactions they engage in are very small, making it costly for financial institutions to serve them.

Moreover, the often marginal social status of both sender and receiver has resulted in a lack of focus on retail payments in these segments of society.

About 500 leaders and senior executives from mobile network operators, financial institutions, development organizations, solutions vendors, regulators, and policymakers from around the world are expected to attend the event.

The Mobile Money Summit is the mobile payments industry’s largest annual conference.

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