Africa takes the lead in mobile banking – World Bank

A new World Bank-Gallup poll has revealed that the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are the world’s leaders in sending, spending, and saving money via mobile phone.

While it would be easy to assume that using your mobile phone to pay for things is for hipsters and techies, the results of a World Bank survey released Wednesday shows just how wrong you would be.

There is actually been more growth in mobile banking, or using a phone-based account as a means to store or transfer money, among users in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world.

Mobile banking has been a huge driver of that growth. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only of the World Bank’s regions where more than 10 percent of adults report having a mobile account, according to the Bank.

Read more: BuzzFeed News