Last year's mobile money transaction value was approximately $2,7 billion, making mobile money transactions an increasingly important alternative in banking.

Botswana's mobile money market has expanded rapidly, with more than 69.5% of the population now using such services.

Statistics Botswana says that approximately 1.6 million mobile money accounts are active in the country, which has a population of about 2.3 million people.

Last year's mobile money transaction value was approximately $2,7 billion, making mobile money transactions an increasingly important alternative in banking.

The banking business, like other industries, has been disrupted in order to adapt and integrate with inventions such as the mobile phone.

Botswana's telecoms service providers are competing fiercely to control the mobile money sector, which was virtually non-existent a decade ago.

Orange Money, provided by Orange Botswana, is the market leader. Mascom telecoms' Myzaka comes in second.

According to Statistics Botswana's ICT Tracker, the mobile money sector has been on a rising trend.

"Mobile money subscriptions have been fluctuating over the years," the agency stated.

It was observed that mobile money subscriptions stood at 1 811 036 in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 1 685 072 in the fourth quarter of 2022.

"Comparing Q1 2023 to the same quarter of the previous year, mobile money subscriptions are surely gaining traction," the Botswana Bureau of Statistics said.

According to the Bank of Botswana, the mobile money disruption will spread to other sectors such as retail.

"The change in the retail payment landscape is driven by technological advancement that responds to increasing demand for faster, more convenient, safe and flexible means of payments and comes with differentiated financial products that meet consumer needs for savings, investment, insurance and credit delivery," according to the bank's forecast.