Recent reports again confirm emerging markets leading the mobile banking revolution

When discussed, it is generally agreed that the deployment of mobile banking solutions in emerging markets are leading the industry. Not only have many achieved significant scale and also proven a positive business case, but the features and technology used are also much richer. Yet, many silent observers think that this is only emerging markets, with no smart phones and NFC enabled terminals: what can they really teach us?

That is why, I found it interesting that many articles was published recently, (re)-confirming the leadership of deployments in emerging markets. Some that have caught my eye are the following:

•  Research done some time ago by McKinsey in conjunction with the GSMA and CGAP seems to indicate that the market for mobile financial services in emerging markets can be as big as 1.7 Billion (Read here)
• Research done by TNS indicated that the number of new users of mobile banking soared over 100% in 12 months in many emerging markets, as banks leapfrogged traditional service models and moved directly to mobile. (Read here)
• Bergh Insight, reported that the mobile banking market is set to grow from 133 million in 2011 by an average of 40% each year to reach 709 million in 2015 (Read here)
• Ovum research indicates that mobile banking is central to maintaining growth momentum in emerging markets. Some of their proprietary research seems to also indicate the growth. (Read here)
• Emerging technology news describe the rapid growth achieved by the major SA banks in mobile banking (Read here)
• The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan shares big growth statistics in branchless banking at a recent conference (Read here)
• Pyramid Research provides insight into Mobile payments in emerging markets (Read here)

 One may have to consider what we can really learn from these deployments, also for first world markets.