NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The volume and value of top-up transactions to mobile wallet accounts rose nearly ‘four-fold’ in 2021 to 1.5 million and $110 million respectively, according to data released by the Central Bank.
The regulator in its 2021 annual report and financial statements, noted that electronic money service providers (EMSPs) represent an emerging segment of the payments arena.
“The number of providers remained at seven during 2021, however, supported by 19 percent fewer agents (213 in total). Meanwhile, both the volume and value of top-up transactions to mobile wallet accounts rose nearly four-fold to 1.5 million and $111.0 million, respectively. The expansion was attributed to greater adoption by consumers and merchants utilizing electronic money services, as well as the use of payment services institutions to channel disbursement of pandemic-related social assistance payments from the Government,” the Central Bank noted.
It continued: “Reflecting end-use of social transfers, the volume of mobile wallet withdrawal expanded by 86.4 percent to 213,541, while the associated value increased more than four-fold to $110.8 million. During the review year, the number of person-to-person (P2P) transactions reached 37,463 corresponding to a more than doubled value of $9.7 million.”
The Central Bank noted that overall, the total number of e-money users expanded in 2021 by 53 percent to 54,968 personal accounts, while business accounts more than doubled to 396 from 130 in 2020.
The regulator also noted that the moratorium placed on the consideration of new license applications for payment services providers and money transmission businesses remained in effect during the year, and is expected to be extended through to September 2022.
