MTN, which has operations in 21 countries across the Middle East and Africa – and is the second-biggest mobile operator in South Africa, its home market – saw the number of registered MTN mobile money subscribers go up 24 per cent, to 18.4 million, during the first six months of 2014.

MTN does not make it clear what revenue impact the increase has had, nor does it give detail of breakdown by country. The operator does note, however, there is a higher percentage of active mobile money users than before.

Even so, the mobile money subscriber base is tiny compared with the 215 million group tally of subscribers MTN had as of 30 June.

MTN used its half-year results to emphasise progress made in the last few years, introducing a number of tailored financial products such as short-term insurance solutions, utility payments and remote payments for airline tickets.

In South Africa, MTN has extended the service beyond a mobile wallet to include a regulatory compliant bank account which allows transactions at any Visa point-of-sale and ATM within the country.