Mobile money usage explodes

In its Financial Access Survey released last Tuesday, the IMF said the number of mobile money accounts per 1,000 adults had grown from 1,115 in 2017 to 2,973 in 2022.

The growth in mobile money usage is also clear in the value of mobile money transactions over the same period, which has grown from 3.4 percent of GDP in 2017 to nearly 14% of GDP in 2022.

The value of mobile money transactions last year equates to about P36.4 billion, making mobile money transactions an increasingly significant alternative in banking, financial intermediation and access.

The Financial Access Survey also shows that the average number of mobile money agents per 1,000 square kilometres ballooned from 2.38 in 2017 to 23.03 last year, further underscoring the sector’s growing significance and uptake amongst consumers.