Mobile money: how digital payments have impacted economic growth

Over the past decade, mobile money has become a mainstream financial service across many low- and middle-income countries. The positive social and economic impacts that mobile money enables for individuals, households and businesses have been demonstrated by a large body of research and empirical evidence. However, the macroeconomic impacts of mobile money are much less understood, particularly in relation to GDP growth.

This study is the first to establish a causal link between the adoption of digital financial services and long-term economic growth. It shows that mobile money had a positive and significant impact on GDP growth in the 2013–2022 period. This impact was enhanced by broader and more intense usage of different mobile money products, particularly merchant, bill and bulk payments and international remittances. By the end of 2022, mobile money had lifted the GDP of mobile money countries by 1.5%, or almost $600 billion.