The underbanked in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America will experience the strongest growth in mobile digital wallets.
So says a new report from ABI Research which concluded that over the next five years the number of mobile digital wallets will almost double.
ABI which estimates that mobile digital wallets will increase from a circulation of 3.5 billion in 2022 to over 5.6 billion in 2027.
“Ecosystem players in the mobile wallet market should prepare for the steady migration of many economies away from cash. Compelling mobile wallet solutions will cover the need for enhanced functionalities and user experience,” said Sam Gazeley, Digital Payment Technologies Analyst at ABI Research.
He added: “Underbanked regions such as the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America will experience the strongest growth in mobile wallets. These regions present an opportunity to access banking services through a wallet or mobile money services, further driven by having mobile infrastructure readily available rather than banking infrastructure.”
The Middle East and Africa have the largest proportion of underbanked and unbanked populations. It here which is witnessing a ground-up transformation the digital payment ecosystems.
What’s more, consumers in Africa are continuing to experience the benefit from the widespread proliferation of alternative payment solutions developed by international neo-banks, challenger banks, and telcos.