Mobile Financial Services in Africa and the Middle East: Telco Service Portfolios and Positioning Strategies

Mobile Financial Services in Africa and the Middle East: Telco service portfolios and positioning strategies

Summary

After more than a decade since Mobile Financial Services (MFS) first made an initial impact on the wider market, their revenue growth still remains high in first-movers such as Kenya. Meanwhile, usage is increasing in previous laggards such as Ghana and even Iraq.Mobile person-to-person (M-P2P) services remain the most widely spread MFS in the MEA region, but prices and charging models differ significantly.

Meanwhile, m-wallet solutions are on the rise in the region and use a number of technologies such as near-field communication (NFC), quick response (QR) codes, and six-digit till codes. However, despite being prevalent in a number of countries, m-wallets have yet to make a significant impact at a regional level.

Several Mobile Network Operators (MNOS) are now developing new services and ecosystems in order to maintain growth and drive further Mobile Financial Services (MFS) usage. Two of the main new approaches are e-commerce platforms that target mobile middle-income online consumers and mobile point-of-sale (M-POS) solutions that target shoppers and traders in the informal sector. In addition, one operator is currently piloting an MFS-integrated social media platform, which is expected to be launched by year-end 2018.

With operators still looking to expand their MFS offerings, further innovation in mobile banking products is likely to be seen in the medium term.Over the forecast period, operators will increase their focus on digital services as well as more advanced mobile banking products in order to further drive mobile money usage.

"Mobile Financial Services in Africa and the Middle East", a new Telecom Insider report, provides an executive-level overview of the mobile financial services (MFS) market in Middle East & Africa (MEA). It delivers quantitative and qualitative insights into the mobile market, analyzing key trends and growth drivers in the region.

Key findings of the report include:

• After more than a decade, the uptake and use of mobile financial services (MFS) is still growing rapidly in a number of countries in the AME region.


• In order to provide a fuller and more advanced range of mobile financial services, operators across the region are both creating in-house solutions and partnering with more traditional financial players.


• Mobile financial services now accounts for up to 1/4 of revenues for the most successful mobile network operators in the AME region.

Scope

• Section 1: Mobile Financial Services: Portfolio: This section provides an overview of the core portfolio of mobile network operators' mobile financial services.


• Section 2: MFS in Africa and the Middle East: This section looks at the recent development and the current state of mobile financial services in AME, while also providing a closer look at the differences and similarities of mobile person-to-person payments.


• Section 3: Case studies: This section looks at a total of three difference case studies from AME giving insight into mobile network operators' portfolios, strategies, positioning, ambitions as well as the impact MFS has had on revenue.


• Section 4: Key findings: it consists of a summary of key findings and growth opportunities for the AME mobile financial services market.

Reasons to buy

• Offers a comprehensive and detailed understanding of mobile financial services (MFS) portfolios and positioning in the AME markets.


• The report investigates MFS trends, milestones and competitive attributes, looking in particular at the various drivers and inhibitors in the AME region.


• To study AME’s most competitive MNO MFS provisions, in order to inform strategical decision-making.


• The report discusses commercial and technical developments in the wider mobile money market and what these developments might mean for the future.