A small counter with a cash box, a phone and a paper ledger. A customer hands you notes to send home to her mother, the notes go into your box, and the same amount leaves your digital balance. Do that thirty to fifty times a day in a small town and your commissions come to $300 to $800 a month.
Maybe you are running a shop that sells airtime and soap and barely clears its costs. Maybe you have been waiting for a job that never calls back. School fees come round every term whether the business had a good month or not, and the family keeps asking how things are going.
People in your town already send and receive money every day. The question is whose counter they walk to. Customers form habits fast, and the agent on the busy corner who never runs out of float becomes the one everybody uses. If another agent opens on that corner first, the habit forms around them.
So what happens when your box runs dry at two in the afternoon? Float is the answer to that, and managing it is most of your job. You hold roughly $500 to $2,000 in working capital, and one to two weeks is the usual run to profit.
Your step today costs nothing. Go and stand at the spot you have in mind and count how many people walk past in an hour.
Think about how far your nearest bank branch is from the people in your street. Africa is one of the world's biggest openings in financial services. Over 57% of adults across the continent have no traditional bank account. Banks cluster in the cities, which leaves rural and peri-urban families without an easy way to save, send or receive money. That gap is exactly where mobile money grew.
Mobile phone penetration across Africa is above 80%, so most adults you will serve own a phone even if they have never had a bank account. Mobile money rides on that phone network to offer financial services with no branch in sight.
The numbers are large. Over 500 million mobile money accounts are registered across Africa. Annual transaction values are above 700 billion dollars and still growing at double-digit rates. The system handles billions of individual transactions a year, and the average African uses mobile money several times a week.
There is no sign of a slowdown. More people are getting phones, mobile money keeps adding new uses, and cash still rules most everyday trade in African markets. Each of those keeps widening the space for agents like you.
A few things keep mobile money on top. Traditional banks need heavy investment in branches, which makes serving low-income and rural customers unprofitable for them. Mobile money cuts that cost sharply by using the phone networks and agent networks that already exist, so nobody has to build an expensive branch.
For your customers, it is simply easier. Agents sit in markets, beside transport hubs, in residential streets, and almost everywhere people go about their day. A transaction takes seconds, where a bank queue can take most of a morning. And anyone with a phone can use it, whatever their income or credit history.
Cash stays king in Africa for good reasons. Most trade is informal, and vendors, traders and service providers prefer cash. Mobile money joins the digital and physical worlds by letting people swap between cash and electronic money whenever they need, and you are the person at the counter who makes that swap happen.
As a mobile money agent, you are the human face of the whole system. Customers come to you to turn cash into electronic money (deposits, or cash-in) and to turn electronic money back into cash (withdrawals, or cash-out). You earn a commission on every transaction you handle.
The model has a lot going for it. Startup costs are fairly low, usually 200 to 2000 dollars depending on your market and provider. You can be open within days or weeks of applying. Commissions give you cash flow every single day. And you can run it part-time beside other work, or grow it into a full-time business with several locations.
Commissions here land daily, and that changes how your household runs. If a small-town counter brings you the 300 to 800 dollars a month this page shows for rural agents, what is left after running costs can be your children's school fees and uniforms paid at the start of term. Walk the market roads near you this week and note where people still queue for an agent.
Mobile money looks different from one African market to the next, so you need to know who the main players are where you live before you choose.
M-Pesa leads in East Africa, especially Kenya, where it started. Run by Safaricom, M-Pesa serves over 50 million customers in Kenya alone and has spread to Tanzania, DRC and several other markets. It pioneered much of what mobile money does today and has the most developed set of merchant payments, bill payments and financial services.
MTN Mobile Money, known as MoMo, is the largest pan-African network. MTN runs mobile money in Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and many other markets. That scale gives it strong brand recognition and a big existing customer base in most places it operates.
Airtel Money has grown fast across its African footprint and competes hard with the established players. Airtel often pays agents good commission rates while it builds market share, which can make it attractive where it operates.
Orange Money leads in francophone West and Central Africa. Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast and Cameroon all have a strong Orange Money presence. If you are in a francophone market, Orange Money is often your main option.
Look past the commission rate alone. Market share matters, because more customers on a service means more transactions coming to your counter. Find out which provider has the most customers in your exact neighbourhood, since national averages can mislead you.
Commission structures differ. Some providers pay more on cash-out, others pay more on cash-in. Think about the mix of transactions you expect, and work out which provider pays you best overall.
Support for agents varies a great deal. Some providers give you solid training, marketing help and a helpline that answers. Others give you very little. Good support matters most on the days you face a technical fault, a fraud attempt or an angry customer.
Help with float can set providers apart. Some have agent super-dealers who help small agents rebalance, while others leave you to manage it alone. Where banks are scarce, that help becomes crucial.
Look at everything else each provider offers. Merchant payments, utility payments and other financial services give customers more reasons to use mobile money and come to your counter. A richer ecosystem means more transactions for you.
Which provider do the traders on your street actually use? Ask five of them this week, and let their answers outweigh any national figure.
Requirements change by country and provider, but most ask for the same things. You will need valid government-issued identification. Many markets require some form of business registration, even if it is only registering as a sole proprietor. Providers usually want a physical location, though some allow mobile or roaming agents.
You must pass the provider's know-your-customer (KYC) checks. They will confirm your identity, look for any history of fraud, and make sure you meet their requirements for agents.
Most providers ask you to finish training before you start. It covers processing transactions, security procedures, customer service and regulatory compliance. It may be in person, online, or a mix of both.
Your starting capital has a few parts. Float is the biggest one. Float is the mix of physical cash and electronic money in your agent account that you use to serve customers.
Minimum float varies by provider and market but usually sits between 200 and 500 dollars for new agents. Starting on the minimum, though, holds back what you can earn. More float lets you handle more transactions without running out of cash or e-money.
Many successful agents start with float of 1000 to 2000 dollars or more. That takes more money up front, but it lets you handle bigger volumes and saves you some of the trips to the bank to rebalance.
Beyond float, budget for your setup: signage (your provider often supplies it), a secure spot to serve customers, perhaps a cash safe or lockbox, and basic supplies for your records.
If you could only raise the 200 to 500 dollar minimum, would you open now on thin float, or wait until you had 1000? The next sections show you what each choice costs.
Your location matters more than anything else you decide. The best spots combine heavy foot traffic with people who genuinely need mobile money. Give yourself real time to study and compare places before you commit.
Markets and trading centres are excellent, because traders need to pay suppliers, send money home and manage cash every day. Set up near the market entrance or along the main trading lanes.
Transport hubs, such as bus stations, taxi ranks and motorcycle taxi stands, serve travellers who need money services. People often send money home before a trip or withdraw cash when they arrive. Being close to the hub catches both flows.
Industrial areas and factory gates serve workers who get paid and need to send money to family. Being near a factory at shift change brings serious volume.
Universities, colleges and schools serve students who receive money from their parents and need to pay fees. Exam periods and the start of each semester bring peak demand.
Hospital and clinic entrances serve patients and visitors who often need emergency cash or have medical bills to pay. Health emergencies bring urgent transactions.
Do your homework before you sign for any spot. Count foot traffic at different times of day. Find the existing agents nearby and judge how busy they are. Ask possible customers how they use mobile money. Check rent and running costs. Make sure there is power to charge your devices.
So you have the provider, the counter and an opening balance. What follows decides whether you can still serve a customer at four in the afternoon.
Your float is the cash in your box plus the electronic money in your agent account. You need both. Cash lets you serve withdrawals, when customers want to turn electronic money into notes. Electronic money lets you serve deposits, when customers want to turn notes into electronic money.
The right balance between the two depends on your spot and your customers. As a starting point, open each day with about 60% cash and 40% electronic money. Watch how your transactions actually run and adjust. A market spot may need more cash for withdrawals. A residential street may need more electronic money for deposits.
Base your float on the volume you expect. If you expect 50 transactions a day averaging 50 dollars each, your daily volume is 2500 dollars. You need enough float to get through the busy hours without running out. A good rule is to keep float equal to 150-200% of your expected daily volume.
Rebalancing means turning extra cash into electronic money, or the other way round. Your main tool is the bank. Deposit surplus cash and move it into electronic money, or withdraw cash and move electronic money to your bank.
You can also partner with nearby agents. When you have too much cash and they have too much electronic money, you trade. That saves you both a trip to the bank and keeps both counters open.
Super-agents are larger agents or distributors who rebalance float for smaller agents. They charge a small fee, but the convenience is worth a lot if the bank is far away.
How far is your nearest bank, and how long would a round trip close your counter? That one answer tells you how much a super-agent's fee is worth to you.
Habits that keep you open
Never run out of float. A customer you turn away goes to a competitor and may never come back. Plan for the busy days: paydays, holidays and market days all bring more demand. Track your float every day, so you always know exactly how much cash and electronic money you hold. Keep it secure, because both cash and electronic money can be stolen.
Your day behind the counter
Opening up
Arrive before your busy hours to set up. Count your opening cash and write the amount down. Check your electronic money balance. Make sure your phone is charged and you have backup power. Have enough record sheets or receipt paper. Put your agent identification where everyone can see it.
Serving each customer
Follow the same steps every time. Verify the customer's identity for registered transactions. Confirm the details before you process anything. Never process a transaction on the customer's phone. Always give a receipt or transaction reference. Count cash carefully, ideally twice.
Keeping records
Write down every transaction in detail. Use the record book your provider supplies or build your own system. Record the date and time, transaction type, amount, customer identifier, and your running float balance. These records help you reconcile, stay right with tax, and settle disputes.
Closing up
At the end of the day, close properly. Count your cash and compare it with what you expected. Check your electronic money balance. Reconcile against your records. Lock the cash somewhere safe or deposit it at the bank. Look back over the day and note anything that went wrong.
Counting your till each evening, cash against records, is what makes this income safe to plan around. Keep customer money, operating float and your own commissions apart. When your till balances day after day, you know what the week holds, and rent stops being a guess on the last Friday of the month. Reconcile before anything moves into your household account.
Keeping yourself and your cash safe
Physical safety
You will handle a lot of cash, so security is part of the job. Never keep more cash at your counter than you need. Bank it daily. Change your deposit times and routes. Put in the protection your spot needs: locks, a safe, perhaps cameras. Think about a security guard if your volume is high. Keep emergency contacts close at hand.
Stopping transaction fraud
Fraudsters target agents with all kinds of tricks. Always process on your own device, never on the customer's phone. Check every detail before you confirm. Be wary of odd requests or anyone pushing you to hurry. Never share your PIN or agent login with anyone. Watch for fake confirmation messages made to look real.
Tricks you will meet
In a reversal scam, a customer says a transaction failed and asks you for a cash refund when the transaction actually went through. In social engineering, someone pretends to be provider staff and asks for access to your account. With fake customers, fraudsters use stolen IDs or false registrations to push fraudulent transactions through you.
When you suspect fraud
If something feels wrong, do not finish the transaction. Call your provider straight away through official channels. Write everything down: customer details, what they tried, and when. Report it to the local authorities where that makes sense.
Growing your business
Phase 1: Single Agent (500-1500 dollars per month)
Start with one well-chosen spot. Handle 50-100 transactions a day. Get float management and daily routines solid. Build relationships and a good name. Give yourself 3-6 months to settle in.
Phase 2: Multi-Location (2000-5000 dollars per month)
Grow to 2-4 locations with hired assistants. Run float centrally. Use the same procedures at every counter. Set up supervision and quality checks. Aim for this 6-12 months after your first spot is stable.
Phase 3: Agent Network (5000 dollars or more per month)
Run 5 or more locations or become a super-agent. Recruit and train sub-agents. Supply float and support to your network. Earn override commissions on your network's transactions. Build toward income that keeps coming without you standing at every counter.
Hiring and training staff
As you grow, you need people you can rely on. Hire for good arithmetic and honesty. Train them on every procedure. Put accountability in place. Pay fair wages plus incentives for good work. Regular supervision stops small problems from growing.
Who in your life would you trust alone with your float and your till for a whole day? If no name comes to mind, Phase 2 can wait, and Phase 1 can still pay well.
Airtime sales
Most mobile money platforms let you sell airtime. Customers buy it straight from you. Margins are usually 3-5%, and a busy counter can earn a solid extra income from it.
Bill payments
Utility bills, school fees and other payments run through mobile money. You earn a small commission on each one. Tell customers you take bill payments to lift your volume.
Phone accessories and repairs
People who come for mobile money also need things for their phones. Selling chargers, cases, earphones and other accessories adds income. If you have the skill, basic phone repairs are worth adding too.
Document services
Where business services are scarce, document services meet a real need. Printing, photocopying and scanning sit well beside mobile money. SIM registration and activation bring you extra commissions.
What the numbers could look like for you
You have seen what a day behind the counter asks of you. Here is what a month of those days is worth once the numbers are laid out.
Income by type of location
Small town or rural agents handling 30-50 transactions a day can expect 300-800 dollars a month from commissions, plus whatever add-on services bring in.
Urban agents in good spots handling 80-120 transactions a day typically earn 1200-2500 dollars a month in commissions, plus add-on income.
Agents in prime, high-traffic spots handling 150-250 or more transactions a day can earn 3000-5000 dollars or more a month in commissions, plus significant add-on income.
Moving to full-time
Most agents start part-time and keep their other income. As volume grows and the routine settles, you can move to full-time. Aim for 100 or more transactions a day before you make that switch.
Getting your money back
With startup costs of 500-2000 dollars and possible monthly income of 500-5000 dollars depending on location and volume, an agent business can return its investment well. Many agents earn back what they put in within 2-4 months.
On these projections, urban agents in good spots handling 80 to 120 transactions a day earn 1,200 to 2,500 dollars a month. If your counter reaches that band and holds it, your mother could leave her stall shut on Sundays and sit down to breakfast with you, because you cover what that day used to bring her. Recover your start-up money first, which many agents do in two to four months, then check the surplus.
Picture those commissions arriving steadily each month. School fees paid on the first day of term. Medicine for your mother bought without asking anyone for help. A counter that pays you every day is a quiet kind of security, and your family will feel it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Too little float
Starting on minimal float caps what you earn and annoys customers who find you out of cash or e-money. Start with more float than you think you need.
A poor location
Excellent operations cannot rescue a bad spot. Spend real time researching before you commit. Waiting for a good location beats rushing into a poor one.
Skipping security
Theft and fraud destroy agent businesses. Put your security in place on day one. It costs far less than one major loss.
Sloppy records
Weak records make reconciling hard, cause tax problems and make disputes messy. Build good record-keeping habits from the start.
Ignoring your customers
Your customers can choose which agent to visit. Friendly, quick service builds loyalty. Rude or slow service sends them to the counter across the road.
Your first week
You have the provider, the float and the numbers. The rest is scheduling, so here are the seven days in the order you would work through them.
Day 1-2: Research the mobile money providers in your market. Learn their requirements, commission structures and market share. Pick the provider that offers you the best opportunity.
Day 3-4: Scout locations. Count foot traffic at different times. Talk to existing agents and local business owners. Narrow it to 2-3 promising spots.
Day 5-6: Start registration with your chosen provider. Gather your documents. Complete the applications.
Day 7: While you wait for approval, prepare your setup. Order signage. Set up your record-keeping. Plan how you will manage float.
Mobile money is changing how people across Africa reach financial services. As an agent, you can build a profitable business while meeting your neighbours' money needs. The opening is real, the barrier to entry is low, and there is room to grow. Start your agent business today.
Spreading to more locations
Agents who do well often grow to several locations.
Hub and Spoke Model: Build one strong main location, then open satellite counters run by people you trust. Your central oversight keeps quality up while transaction volume multiplies.
Partnership Development: Team up with local businesses to offer mobile money from their premises. You reach more people without paying for separate premises yourself.
Super Agent Status: Some providers run super agent programmes that let you manage several sub-agents. You then earn recurring income from how your whole network performs, rather than from each transaction you handle yourself.
Agent, dealer or outlet: know which one you are
Most advice on this, including the general picture above, blurs three different roles into one. In the biggest mobile money markets they are separate, they come with very different requirements, and knowing which one you are really applying for tells you whether your plan is realistic.
Kenya is the useful example, because Safaricom publishes its requirements, and M-PESA is the market every other one copies.
Read the published requirements for becoming an M-PESA Agent and the picture of one person with a phone falls apart straight away.
The prospective agent must be registered as a limited company or equivalent, with at least three outlets ready to offer M-PESA under the company name. The company must have traded for a minimum of six months. Proposed outlets are audited before business commences, and Safaricom only considers applications for outlets in what it calls opportunity areas.
To become an agent dealer you need a certificate of incorporation, a Form CR12 or equivalent valid for the last three months, identification for the named office administrators and primary assistants, and completed application forms. If you do not meet the full dealer requirements, you are asked instead for a certificate of good conduct, a business permit and identification.
That is forming a company with a trading history and rolling out several sites. A side hustle you start next week with a few hundred dollars of float looks very different.
Where you fit as an individual
Here is how the two pictures fit together. Most people working behind a mobile money counter are not the agent. They run an outlet that belongs to an agent company, or work as a sub-agent under someone who holds the agent relationship.
That route is real and open to you, and it is what the low-capital descriptions are really describing. Its economics differ, though. You share commission with the agent company that holds the licence, your float arrangements go through them, and the customer relationship and the licence belong to them.
Ask which one you are being offered. People get recruited into outlet arrangements and told they are becoming agents. The difference decides how much commission reaches you and whether you own anything at the end. If someone offered you an "agency" tomorrow, would you know whose name sits on the licence? Ask to see it before you hand over any float.
What the agent is responsible for
Safaricom's published list of agent duties describes the job fairly in any market: registering customers, processing deposits, processing withdrawals for both registered and unregistered customers, educating customers, complying with the provider's anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer policies, following its business practices, and branding the outlet to the provider's guidelines.
Two of those deserve your closest attention, because they are the ones where agents get terminated outright, well beyond a fine.
AML and KYC compliance is your licence. You are carrying out a regulated financial function on someone else's authority. Failing to identify customers properly, or processing transactions you should have questioned, is the fastest way out of this business.
Branding and business practice rules are enforced. Providers audit outlets, and the branding requirements carry real weight.
Borrowing for float
Safaricom offers an agent business loan, with amounts reported from KSh 5,000 up to KSh 10,000,000 and a fee reported at 0.123% of the amount borrowed.
That loan exists because float is the tightest limit in this business, which is what the float section above is about. Borrowing to fund float is normal practice and no sign of trouble. Before you use it, run a simple sum: the commission you earn on the extra volume the float allows must be greater than the cost of the loan, with room to spare for the days the float sits idle.
The rules above your provider
Mobile money is a regulated financial service, and the provider whose name is on your shopfront itself runs under a central bank licence. That affects you in ways most guidance leaves out.
Your rules come from the central bank, passed down through the telco. Requirements on customer identification, transaction limits, record keeping and reporting start with the financial regulator and reach you through the provider's agent agreement. When they change, they change for you without any negotiation.
Transaction and balance limits are set centrally and revised from time to time. If your business only works at volumes above a current limit, it is exposed to a decision you have no say in.
Agent exclusivity rules vary by market and matter to your income. Some regulators have required that agents be allowed to serve more than one provider, which is the difference between one income stream and several. Find out the position where you are before you sign anything that ties you down.
Reporting suspicious transactions is a duty you owe. Structuring, unusual patterns and customers dodging identification thresholds are all things you are expected to notice and report. Agents have lost their positions for processing what they should have refused.
The minimum you must do
Identify customers to the standard your provider requires, every time, including for the transaction that looks obviously fine.
Keep the records your agreement specifies for as long as it specifies. Regulators audit through the provider, and the provider audits you.
Never process a transaction for someone who will not identify themselves, whoever they are to you.
Never lend your agent credentials. Doing so ends the business, and it is the most common way outlets get compromised.
Report incidents quickly. Providers treat a cover-up far more harshly than the problem itself.
What would you say to a cousin who asks you to skip the ID check "just this once"? Decide your answer now, while nobody is standing at your counter.
Why this is harder than it looks
Three things decide whether an outlet is worth running, and commission rates are none of them.
Location decides volume, and volume decides everything. Commission per transaction is small, so your business lives or dies on throughput. A site near a market, a transport hub, a school or a big payday employer handles many times what the same setup does two streets away. Treat this as a retail siting decision and give it the seriousness that deserves.
Float is working capital, and it is your real limit. Every deposit uses up electronic value and leaves you with cash; every withdrawal does the reverse. When you run out of one or the other, you stop earning until you rebalance, and rebalancing means a trip to a super-agent or bank. The agents who earn well are the ones who predict which way money will flow at their spot each day and get ready for it.
Competition is dense, and every counter looks the same. In established markets several outlets sit within sight of one another, offering the same service at a fixed price you cannot cut. What you compete on is being available: open, stocked with float both ways, and trusted. That comes down to daily discipline.
The provider sets commission structures, tiers them by transaction size, and changes them without asking you. Any monthly earnings figure for this business, including the ones elsewhere on this page, depends on location, hours, float capacity and the current commission table.
So read published figures as a sign the business can work, and keep your forecast for your own numbers. Check the current commission schedule with the provider directly before you put money in, and model your income on the transaction volume you can actually see at your chosen spot rather than on someone else's outlet.
Treat security as daily operations
Your outlet holds cash and handles financial transactions at a fixed spot everyone knows about. That is a specific kind of risk, and it deserves a real plan.
The physical risk
Cash on the premises is your exposure. The float that makes the business work is also what makes you a target. The protections are plain: bank surplus cash during the day instead of letting it pile up, change the timing and route whenever you move cash, and never move large amounts alone or on a pattern someone could learn.
How your counter is set up matters. A physical barrier, a locked drawer and a clear view of the door are standard for good reason.
Light and visibility put people off. An outlet that is well lit and visible from the street is a harder target than one tucked away.
Fraud, the bigger risk
Most agents lose more to fraud than to robbery, and the tricks follow familiar patterns.
Reversal and error scams. A customer says a transaction failed or went to the wrong number and pushes you to hand over cash while the transaction has in fact gone through. Your defence is a fixed routine: check the confirmation on your own device, never on the customer's screen, before any cash leaves the drawer.
Fake confirmation messages. Forged SMS confirmations are common and look convincing. Your agent balance is the only record that counts.
Social engineering aimed at you. Callers say they are from the provider and ask for PINs, balances or a test transaction. Providers do not ask for credentials, and a firm rule that you never perform a transaction on a phone instruction protects you completely.
Staff collusion. If you employ counter staff, they hold your float and your credentials. Separate logins where the provider allows them, daily reconciliation and surprise counts are the checks that catch this early.
The habits that stop most losses
Reconcile daily, without exception. Count cash against the electronic balance every evening. A gap you find the same day can be traced; one you find a fortnight later is a loss.
Never process from a screenshot. Only from your own confirmed balance.
Never share the agent PIN, even with the person you trust most in the business. Where staff need access, use the provider's own multi-user setup.
Refuse to be rushed. Every fraud of this kind depends on hurrying you. A rule that no unusual transaction is finished at speed removes most of the danger, and a customer who objects to a thirty-second check is telling you something.
What does waiting cost? Every day the corner stays empty, customers walk further or form a habit at someone else's counter. Go and count the foot traffic tonight, talk to one provider this week, and plan your float and your security before the first customer arrives.
Who Should Skip This
Before you count out your first float, ask yourself honestly whether this suits you at all. Finding out later costs you your working capital.
If you cannot get a genuinely busy location, the numbers do not work. Commission per transaction is small, and no amount of skill or service makes up for it. This is the most common reason outlets close.
If your working capital has no cushion, remember that float is money you cannot spend and must sometimes top up at short notice. The day you dip into float to cover a personal bill, you have stopped trading.
If you want to be away, know that this counter must be staffed during trading hours. Income stops when the shutter comes down, and customers who find you closed twice go elsewhere for good.
If you are unwilling to do compliance properly, remember that you are doing regulated financial work on someone else's authority, and when it goes wrong you lose the business outright, with no warning first.
If your area is already crowded with outlets, count how many sit within a few minutes' walk before you commit. In mature markets the density is high, the service is identical and the price is fixed.
What it truly offers you is a real business meeting a real need, with cash flow every day, nothing to source, no stock to hold, and demand that fashion never touches. Where banking access is still limited, it is essential infrastructure that will outlast any trend, and operators with a good site and disciplined float management run it for years.
Where This Goes Next
Three judgements about where this is heading, offered as reasoning for you to weigh.
Commission shrinks as markets mature. Providers set the rates, outlets are packed close together, and across established markets the pay per transaction has been falling, with volume expected to make up the difference. Plan on today's schedule and assume it gets tighter.
Interoperability changes your position. Where regulators have pushed providers to connect with each other and to let agents serve more than one network, your outlet depends less on a single relationship. That works in your favour, and it arrives at the regulator's pace, whatever the provider would prefer.
The counter's role narrows as more people go digital. As more customers hold accounts and pay each other directly, the cash-in and cash-out work agents do shrinks as a share even while total volume grows. The agents who last tend to be the ones who added nearby services, bill payments, airtime, banking agency work, small retail, rather than those relying on deposits and withdrawals alone.
Put together, they point one way. Treat your outlet as a footfall business that happens to do mobile money, rather than as a mobile money business that happens to have a location. If deposits and withdrawals halved at your counter, what else would bring people through your door? The add-on services earlier on this page, bill payments, airtime and document work, are the place to start building that answer.
That growth goes to the agents already standing at the right counters. Each busy street only needs a few, and customers rarely switch once they trust someone with their money. The good spots in your town are being taken by people who move now, carefully and with enough float.