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As our new Mobile Payments report discusses (clients can download here), now that mobile payments have gained a foothold across many key markets, the next wave of growth for many payment providers will be in rural areas.
Currently, financial infrastructures in rural areas, particularly in many fast-growth markets, can lag significantly behind those found in urban locales. Bridging this gap via traditional methods would be no easy feat, and it’s here that alternative payments – especially mobile – arise as the strongest solutions in bringing rural consumers into the financial ecosystem.
Globally, it may be just 8% of Mobile Payment Users who live in rural areas, but the cheap adoption advantages of popular QR code-based services like PayTM and AliPay, as well as innovative solutions in connecting many independent rural retailers online, highlights the vast potential here.
