First National Bank (FNB) has forecast that Zambia’s mobile banking space could grow by 62% this year.

FNB Zambia has projected that mobile banking rates in Zambia are set to grow swiftly owing to an increasing uptake of handsets and a local financial sector that is pushing to reach the country’s unbanked population.

The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) earlier this year said that Zambia has over 10 million mobile subscribers. Zambia has a population of 14 million, according to the World Bank.

Meanwhile, statistics from Zambia’s central bank suggest that mobile phone banking has overtaken traditional bank accounts in the Southern African country. The central bank statistics state that the country’s mobile money accounts have reached 3.4 million compared to 2 million bank accounts.

FNB head of strategic marketing and communications, Clotilda Mulenga, said her bank is gradually moving from using mobile phones and internet banking merely for information purposes, such as checking of one’s account balance or statements, to actually transacting on the phone.

“The increasing convergence between mobile phone and banking technology for communication, banking and shopping means more of our customers are using their devices for their banking business,” Mulenga said.

She also said that in the last three years, FNB has seen an increase in the number of people using phones and tablets via the bank’s mobile banking application.