Skip to content

Hey Market, It’s not All About Smart Phones When it Comes to Mobile Money

  • By Timothy Roberts
  • Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Interesting article recently over at TechCrunch discussing how for the money mobile market to reach its full potential (estimated at more than a trillion dollars by 2016) we need to make some great leaps forward.

There’s no denying that mobile money is a rapidly growing market, but as the article points out, so much of the efforts around mobile money is focused on smart phones. While the smart phone market continues to boom, only an estimated 5% of worldwide mobile users have a mobile phone. Which, in essence, can serve to make money transfer in exchange for goods rather exclusive.

Many of the companies that are getting media attention such as Square and PayPal focus only on a small segment of the market, and don’t address the other 95%. That said, around the world, there are many other players in the market offering mobile users, regardless if they have a smart phone or not, a fast and reliable way to make send money.

Mobile money has a long way to go to reach the trillion dollar mark, but it’s not as far off as one may think. Especially with the new possibilities around application to person messaging, work being done by Facebook and other social media platforms, and not to mention, as more and more of the world’s subscriber base upgrade to smart devices. Where we are today is just the tip of the iceberg, prepare for mobile payments from your grandma shortly.