Vodafone hits 25m active users for mobile money product

The FTSE 100 mobile giant said active customer numbers for the service that enables customers with limited access to bank accounts to send and receive money or pay bills increased by 27.1% in the year ended 31 March 2016, boosted by market launches in Albania and Ghana and supported by a network of more than 261,000 agents across 11 countries.

At the end of September, following launches in Ghana, Romania and Albania last year, active customer numbers had reached 23.4m, up from 19.9m at the end of the last financial year in 2015.

Vodafone's 40%-owned Vodacom generated first-half revenues of R722m from M-pesa, which accounted for 38.7% of its international data revenue.

Recent research from analysts at Barclays found the global payment market looked set to double by 2023, with African telecom operators monetizing this theme through mobile money.

Vodafone has signed global framework agreements with international money transfer hubs TransferTo and MFS, and fellow mobile transfer system MTN Mobile Money to enable wider transfer usage.

The first country to have fully interoperable domestic mobile money services is Tanzania, following an agreement between Vodacom and its rivals.

Vodafone's director of mobile money, Michael Joseph, said: "Since 2007, M-Pesa has enhanced the lives and livelihoods of people without bank accounts, giving them access to essential financial services through their mobile phones.

He added that M-Pesa continued to expand its usage to encompass savings and loans, payment of salaries and benefits, settlement of utility bills and school fees and such uses as disbursing pre-natal health benefits in India or a service in Kenya that channels money from donors and government meant for health services directly to recipients.

Also, the World Food Programme is using M-Pesa to help deliver their food aid programme in Kenyan refugee camps.