The GSM Association has announced the launch of a new tool that is meant to gauge the effectiveness of regulatory frameworks for mobile money. The Mobile Money Regulatory Index analyses six areas necessary to enable mobile money:
- authorization;
- consumer protection;
- transaction limits;
- know-your-customer;
- agent networks; and
- the environment for investment and infrastructure.
The stated purpose of the index is to support dialogue between regulators and mobile money providers on the best reforms to encourage market growth. The index will also help developers to understand how they might provide technical assistance to governments and regulators.
This is a promising initiative from the GSMA. Benchmarking is widely used to improve performance across our industry, but we can seek to benchmark the makers of rules as well as the providers of communications services. An index like this should hopefully serve to promote good decisions by governments and regulators, to the benefit of consumers all over.
As my colleague Joseph Nderitu has observed, sometimes governments take an exploitative attitude to mobile money. If managed correctly, mobile money can accelerate economic growth around the world. Our industry can play a decisive role by fostering good governance of mobile money services everywhere.
The GSMA Mobile Money Regulatory Index can be accessed here.
