More than 30 Mozambican adults out of every 100 have a bank account, an increase of 26% in the space of ten years, a period in which the ratio of bank branches across the country has practically stagnated, the Lusa news agency reported on Monday 28 August.
According to data from this month’s Bank of Mozambique statistical report, compiled by Lusa, the country’s commercial banks had the equivalent of 30.1 per cent of bank accounts last June, compared to 23.9 per cent in 2013. However, the highest record in this ratio was achieved in June 2017, with 36.2 per cent of bank accounts.
Also according to the central bank, last June 18.5 per cent of women and 40.9 per cent of men had a bank account. The number of bank branches remained practically unchanged between 2013, when it was 4.0 per cent, and the end of the first half of this year, when it was 3.9 per cent.
The number of bank cards issued in Mozambique rose in the same ten-year period from 23.8 per cent in 2013 to 18.4 per cent last June.
The report says that ATMs (CA/ATM) grew slightly to a ratio of 8.3 per cent available, compared to 8.1 per cent in 2013, while automatic payment terminals (TPA/POS) soared to 209.2 per cent, compared to 87.8 per cent in 2013.
The Bank of Mozambique document concludes that 80 per cent of the country’s 154 districts were covered by ATMs, compared to less than half (49.2 per cent) ten years ago. In Mozambique, there are 15 commercial banks and 12 micro banks, as well as credit cooperatives and savings and credit organisations.
