Every month, hundreds of millions of people use a wallet tied to their phone number to save, pay and receive money, often without a bank account. This guide explains what mobile money is, which networks lead in which countries, what the GSMA's latest figures show, how money sent from the US reaches a wallet, how verification tiers set limits, what cashing out costs and which frauds to watch for. For everything else about sending money abroad, start at the money transfer hub.
What is mobile money?
Mobile money is electronic money held in an account tied to a phone number, issued by a licensed provider and exchanged for cash at agents. The provider is often a mobile network operator, though banks and other licensed firms run wallets too. Customers use an app or a USSD menu that works on any handset, and agents, usually small shops, take cash in and pay it out. Rules differ by country: Philippine regulation, for example, says e-money is not a deposit and requires issuers to hold liquid assets at least equal to the balances outstanding.
The GSMA's State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026, the latest edition, counted 2.3 billion registered accounts at the end of 2025, 268 million more than a year earlier, and 593 million accounts used in the previous 30 days. More than $2.1 trillion moved through wallets during the year, and agents took in $430 billion of cash. Use is uneven: only 25.7% of registered accounts are active in a typical month, and most new accounts come from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Money increasingly stays digital. In December 2025, 76 cents was cashed out for every dollar cashed in, and during 2025 some $167 billion moved from banks into wallets while $163 billion went the other way.
Cross-border use is growing fast. Mobile money providers handled $45 billion of international remittances in 2025, 23% more than in 2024, across 381 million transfers, and three-quarters of the value went through Sub-Saharan Africa. Citing World Bank data, the GSMA puts the average cost of sending $200 by mobile money at 3.63% in early 2025, close to the UN's 3% target.
Which mobile money networks lead in which countries?
A few networks dominate their markets, each run by a phone company, bank or other licensed firm, and nearly all of them identify accounts by mobile number.
| Network | Main countries | Regulator |
|---|---|---|
| M-Pesa | Kenya, Tanzania, DR Congo, Mozambique, Lesotho, Ethiopia | The national central bank in each country |
| MTN MoMo | Ghana, Uganda, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda, Zambia, Benin and others | National or regional central banks |
| Airtel Money | Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, DR Congo and others | National or regional central banks |
| GCash and Maya | Philippines | Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas |
| bKash and Nagad | Bangladesh | Bangladesh Bank |
| Easypaisa and JazzCash | Pakistan | State Bank of Pakistan |
The operators' own results show the scale. Safaricom counted 40.99 million one-month active M-Pesa customers in Kenya in the year to March 2026. MTN reported 70.8 million monthly active MoMo users across its markets in the first half of 2026, and Airtel Africa had 54.1 million Airtel Money customers at the end of March 2026.
Within a country, wallets increasingly connect to each other and to banks. Safaricom charges the same fee to send money to a registered user of another mobile money network as to another M-Pesa user, and Philippine rules require e-money services that move funds to join an automated clearing house so that transfers work across providers.
How does money from abroad reach a mobile wallet?
A transfer service collects the dollars, converts them and credits the wallet through a partnership with the mobile money provider, using the recipient's phone number as the address. Unlike a bank transfer, it needs no account number or IBAN; IBAN explained covers the bank-account side.
Safaricom, for example, lists more than 20 international partners whose transfers from the US, the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and the UAE land in M-Pesa at no cost to the recipient. The money arrives in Kenyan shillings, rounded to whole shillings, and only registered M-Pesa customers can receive it; someone who is not yet registered gets a text message and has 21 days to register and collect the funds.
Confirm the wallet details
Ask for the recipient's mobile number in international format, the network it is registered with and their name exactly as the wallet shows it. A wallet registered to someone else, or a number the recipient no longer uses, means the money may not reach them.
Choose a service that pays out to that network
Not every service reaches every wallet. The quote should name the network and state the amount in local currency that will arrive.
Pay from a bank account or card
Paying in cash costs extra: the federal remittance tax is 1% of the amount sent, on transfers paid with cash, a money order, a cashier's check or a similar physical instrument.
Tell the recipient what to expect
The wallet provider sends a text message with the amount and the new balance. Receiving is often free, but sending the money on or withdrawing it carries the normal fees, so agree in advance how much will be needed in cash.
The World Bank's survey of US routes, shown below, averages every payout method rather than mobile money alone, so treat it as a yardstick for the quotes you collect.
| Corridor | Quarter | Cost of sending 200 (%) | Cost of sending 500 (%) | Average fee on 200 | Exchange-rate margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan | Q3 2025 | 3.81% | 2.94% | $4.32 | 1.65% |
| Kenya | Q3 2025 | 4.26% | 3.36% | $4.64 | 1.94% |
| Ghana | Q3 2025 | 4.37% | 3.26% | $5.14 | 1.80% |
| Philippines | Q3 2025 | 4.52% | 2.87% | $6.23 | 1.40% |
| Bangladesh | Q3 2025 | 7.61% | 6.66% | $5.06 | 5.08% |
How do verification tiers and wallet limits work?
Many wallets open with light checks and low limits, and the owner raises them by proving their identity with official documents.
| Wallet | Verification | Main limits |
|---|---|---|
| GCash basic profile, from October 1, 2026 | Not yet verified | PHP 10,000 balance; PHP 5,000 a month in and PHP 5,000 out |
| GCash fully verified, from October 1, 2026 | Government ID and selfie checked | PHP 1,000,000 balance and monthly total in or out; PHP 500,000 a day out |
| M-Pesa, Kenya | Registered with a Kenyan ID, passport or another accepted document | KES 500,000 balance and daily total; KES 250,000 per transaction |
| bKash, Bangladesh | Registered account | BDT 500,000 balance, waived for remittances; withdrawals of BDT 30,000 a day and BDT 200,000 a month; up to BDT 250,000 per incoming remittance |
The Philippine central bank sets the framework rather than the numbers. Since BSP Circular 1166 of 2023, e-money issuers have set limits by customer risk category instead of following one fixed monthly cap, and they must add up what a person loads into or moves through several wallets from the same issuer.
For a sender, limits matter in a practical way: a wallet that has reached its limit cannot receive more until it resets or the owner upgrades. A basic GCash wallet that can take in PHP 5,000 a month would block a typical monthly remittance, so ask the recipient to complete verification before the first transfer.
What does it cost to cash out mobile money?
Receiving is often free, but turning e-money into cash at an agent usually costs a fee, either a flat charge per amount band or a percentage. M-Pesa uses bands, so the fee as a share of the cash generally falls as the amount grows.
| M-Pesa agent withdrawal (KES) | Fee (KES) | Fee at the top of the band |
|---|---|---|
| 101 to 2,500 | 29 | 1.16% |
| 2,501 to 3,500 | 52 | 1.49% |
| 3,501 to 5,000 | 69 | 1.38% |
| 5,001 to 7,500 | 87 | 1.16% |
| 7,501 to 10,000 | 115 | 1.15% |
| 10,001 to 15,000 | 167 | 1.11% |
| 15,001 to 20,000 | 185 | 0.93% |
| 20,001 to 35,000 | 197 | 0.56% |
| 35,001 to 50,000 | 278 | 0.56% |
| 50,001 to 250,000 | 309 | 0.12% |
At the bottom of a band the share is far higher: withdrawing KES 101 costs the same KES 29, almost 29% of the cash. bKash charges a flat 1.85% at a regular agent, or 1.395% on up to BDT 50,000 a month taken from up to two saved Priyo agents. Money received as a remittance can instead be withdrawn at partner banks' ATMs for 0.70%, from BDT 3,000 up to BDT 20,000 at a time depending on the bank, for as long as a remittance balance remains.
Governments add a further cost in some countries. Many tax mobile money as a percentage of transfers, withdrawals or overall transaction value, and the GSMA reports that usage often falls where such taxes are imposed, with data from Tanzania linking its levy to markedly lower person-to-person and cash-out activity.
Worked example: $200 to an M-Pesa wallet in Kenya, then cashed out
Suppose the mid-market rate is 1 USD = 130.00 KES, an illustrative figure. The sender pays a $3 fee on top, and the provider converts at 1.5% below mid-market.
- Provider's rate: 130.00 × 0.985 = 128.05
- Credited to M-Pesa: $200 × 128.05 = KES 25,610, with no charge to receive
- Agent withdrawal of the full amount, in the KES 20,001 to 35,000 band: KES 197
- Cash in hand: KES 25,413
The sender paid $203, worth KES 26,390 at mid-market, so the total cost is KES 977, or 3.70%. It splits into the fee (KES 390), the markup (KES 390) and the withdrawal (KES 197). Taking the cash out in two halves of KES 12,805 would cost KES 167 each, KES 334 in all, so one withdrawal is cheaper.
Worked example: $300 to a bKash wallet in Bangladesh
Assume 1 USD = 124.00 BDT, an illustrative figure, and a provider rate 1% below mid-market with no fee.
- Provider's rate: 124.00 × 0.99 = 122.76
- Converted: $300 × 122.76 = BDT 36,828
- Government incentive of 2.5%: BDT 920.70
- Credited to bKash: BDT 37,748.70
Withdrawing BDT 20,000 of that costs BDT 140 at a partner ATM at 0.70%, BDT 279 at a saved Priyo agent at 1.395% and BDT 370 at any other agent at 1.85%. Because withdrawals are capped at BDT 30,000 a day, taking out the whole balance would need two days, while payments from the wallet have no such cap.
Below, three typical amounts are shown in Kenyan shillings, first at the mid-market rate of the moment, then after a 1% and a 3% markup. Flat fees and withdrawal charges are not included.
| You send | At the mid-market rate | With a 1% markup | With a 3% markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | KES 12,994 | KES 12,864 | KES 12,604 |
| $200 | KES 25,988 | KES 25,728 | KES 25,208 |
| $500 | KES 64,969 | KES 64,319 | KES 63,020 |
To see how much of a quote is markup, enter it in the money transfer cost calculator, replacing its pound and rupee figures with dollars and shillings, including the mid-market rate.
What frauds target mobile money users?
The schemes providers report most often are identity fraud, social engineering, insider fraud and SIM-swap fraud, according to GSMA research. In the GSMA survey cited in its 2026 report, SIM-swap fraud ranked fourth at 79%, behind identity fraud at 90%, social engineering at 88% and insider fraud at 87%.
- SIM swap. A fraudster persuades or bribes someone to move the victim's number to a new SIM, then resets the wallet PIN and empties it. A phone that suddenly loses service is the warning sign; call the provider from another phone straight away.
- Fake reversal requests. A stranger claims to have sent money by mistake, sometimes with a fake confirmation text, and asks for it back. Look at the actual wallet balance before believing any message. On M-Pesa, real mistakes are reversed through Safaricom by forwarding the confirmation to 456, never by paying the caller.
- Agent fraud. A dishonest agent may overcharge, ask for a PIN or misuse a customer's ID details. Never share a PIN, count the cash before leaving and keep the confirmation message.
- Impersonation. Calls or messages that claim to come from the provider and ask for a PIN or one-time code are scams; a provider has no reason to ask for either.
A recipient abroad cannot always recover stolen e-money, so prevention matters most; money transfer scams covers the tricks aimed at senders. Mobile money is one of several systems that handle the last leg of a transfer, alongside SEPA in Europe, Pix in Brazil and SPEI in Mexico. Route-specific advice is in the corridor guides for Kenya, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Pakistan.