Success Metrics for the Telco Mobile Money Business

Although there are relatively few success stories in mobile money to date, there is an emerging consensus among experts about some of the critical metrics for a successful business model, McKinsey and Company researchers say. 

Four of the key indicators are the percentage of active mobile-money users in the telco’s subscriber base (more relevant for a telco but could be adapted for use by banks in the future), the number of customers each mobile-money agent serves, the average number of transactions each agent conducts each day, and the average number of transactions each customer conducts per month. 

Indicator	Success is
% of active mobile-money users among total telco subscriber base	>10%
Number of customers per agent (across growth trajectory)	400–600
Average number of transactions per agent/day	30–50
Average number of transactions per customer/month	>2.5

Source: McKinsey and company