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.

7 in 10 Mobile Payment Users Live in Urban EnvironmentsExplore data in PRO PlatformDownload Device Q1 2017

You’ve read our blog, now see our platform

Every business has questions about its audiences, GWI has answers. Powered by consistent, global research, our platform is an on-demand window into their world.

laptop