Mobile money provides ideal channel for cash access in Africa

Mobile money and mobile banking are increasingly proving to be the ideal channels to access cash in Africa, which is evidence of the growth that FNB is seeing in its African subsidiaries. Today the bank announced that it is seeing a rapid uptake of Cellphone Banking in Africa. The bank has recorded year on year growth of 376% in Zambia, 277% in Botswana; 204% in Namibia and 473% in Swaziland.

Danny Zandamela, CEO of FNB Africa says, “When we introduced our Cellphone Banking solution into other African countries, sceptics were not convinced by this channel as being a successful financial offering. However, the numbers we are seeing are confirmation that the African continent is actually an ideal market for mobile banking services.”

In markets other than South Africa, Botswana currently takes the lead, recording the highest number of Cellphone Banking users, with 65% of FNB customers in the country using the service. Botswana is followed by Namibia and Zambia at 47% and Swaziland with 11%. Together the four countries perform in the region of 1.2 million Cellphone Banking transactions per month, worth approximately R122 million and have processed more than R1.2 billion in the last year. By adding Cellphone Banking to Lesotho in May FNB has expanded its footprint to five countries that can offer their customers the service.