According to Informa, the global mobile market is forecast to pass 2 billion subs this year and be approaching 3 billion by the end of 2010. Overall market growth was boosted in 2004, with 91 million more new customers during the year than there were in 2003. Although the annual growth rate is forecast to fall into single figures within a couple of years, over one billion new subs are due to be added between now and the end of 2010. Almost half of these new subs will be in Asia Pacific. Two huge Asian markets -- India and China -- will account for over 30 percent (371.6 million) of the region's total. Amongst the regions, it is the Middle East and Africa markets that will show the greatest growth. Their combined markets will more than double in size, with over 200 million new customers signing up for mobile services by 2010. As a result of the continued growth, several countries are already reporting penetration rates of over 100 percent and Western Europe's regional penetration is set to breach 100 percent in a couple of years. By 2010, the global penetration is estimated at 43 percent.
The BaaS model has been adopted across a wide range of industries due to its ability to streamline financial processes for non-banks and foster innovation. BaaS has several industry-specific use cases, where it creates new revenue streams. Banking as a Service (BaaS) is rapidly emerging as a growth market, allowing non-bank businesses to integrate banking services into their core products and online platforms. As defined by Juniper Research, BaaS is "the delivery and integration of digital banking services by licensed banks, directly into the products of non-banking businesses, commonly through the use of APIs." BaaS Market Development The core idea is that licensed banks can rent out their regulated financial infrastructure through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to third-party Fintechs and other interested companies. This enables those organizations to offer banking capabilities like payment processing, account management, and debit or credit card issuance without