Licensing mobile money remittance providers: Early lessons

Mobile money has demonstrated that it can serve the needs of both international remittance senders and receivers, particularly for low-value transactions. Yet, the full potential of mobile money has not been realised, in part because of protracted approval processes, receive only licenses, and a lack of procedural efficiency to enable mobile money remittances via hubs to scale. Solutions to all of these issues have been identified by regulators in markets where mobile money remittances are beginning to flourish. This paper reflects an initial effort to document best practice in the hope of accelerating the uptake of efficient practices.