About $29-billion was transferred across country borders in 2023 using mobile money services, $7-billion more than was sent in 2022, according to the GSM Association’s latest state of the industry report on mobile money.

Mobile money allows people who do not have a bank account to send money safely using a basic mobile phone. International remittances are commonly used by migrant workers to send money home to their families.

The amount of money being transferred has surged 262% in four years, from $8-billion in 2019 to $29-billion in 2023. The growth in international remittances is being driven by West Africa, the GSMA said.

There are about 835-million mobile money account holders in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the GSMA. Last year, 62-billion transactions were carried out in the region using mobile money. This is two-thirds of the world’s total mobile money transactions.