Lasdt month, the National Payment System report by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), outlined that mobile money operators continue to dwell in urban areas compared to rural areas. Following thus, the Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) posed a theory on why there is low penetration of mobile money operators in rural areas.

The latest figures from RBM show that as 78.1%, of mobile money agents are located in urban and semi-urban areas, with the remaining 21.9% are in rural areas. According to the Ecama study titled Promoting Mobile Money Use Through Training and Text Messages, the low penetration is attributed to the lack of lack of information.

After results of by the study, the Ecama secretary general Andrew Kumbatira concluded that if people in rural areas

are provided with correct information and good incentives, more people can start to use mobile money platforms.

Meanwhile, the central bank lamented that the low penetration of mobile money services in rural areas is negatively affecting the digital financial inclusion agenda.