The GSMA’s Barriers to Mobile Internet Adoption report shows that over 3.1 billion people live where coverage exists but don’t use the internet. This usage gap is the divide between those who can connect and those who actually do.
For the past decade, governments, NGOs, and operators have invested heavily in expanding coverage. Towers have gone up, fibre has been laid, and data costs have fallen. Yet many remain disconnected. The bottleneck isn’t infrastructure—it’s affordability.
For millions living on daily or weekly wages, owning an internet-enabled smartphone remains out of reach. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICS), an entry-level handset costs around 16% of monthly income. That’s several weeks of disposable income, a luxury few can justify when essentials come first.
Without affordable devices, people can’t access jobs, digital payments, or government and healthcare services moving online. Yet many already own basic feature phones and maintain relationships with operators. They top up regularly, pay bills, and stay loyal. The infrastructure for financing exists— it just hasn’t been fully activated.
Mobile Network Operators, smartphone financiers, and retailers are positioned to solve this challenge. They have mass-market reach, customer insights, and established relationships, making them ideal to offer device financing. Instead of paying upfront, customers can spread the cost over manageable payments.
This model has succeeded across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia. Financed devices empower people to participate in the digital economy. A smartphone becomes a productive asset to generate income, manage businesses, and access education.
However, the opportunity isn’t without risk. In markets with weak credit systems, operators face defaults, asset loss, and operational complexity.
Traditional lending relies on credit histories and collateral, which most emerging market consumers lack. Behavioral scoring or deposit requirements limit reach and exclude those the programs aim to help.
Many pilots stall. Operators face bad debt or struggle to secure backing. Unsecured handset-financing schemes report default rates of a quarter to a third, especially without remote-locking mechanisms, wiping out margins.
This isn’t a technology or demand problem-it’s a trust problem. Embedding trust directly into devices enables carriers and retailers to safely offer financing to underserved customers.
At Trustonic, the solution isn’t to avoid risk, but to eliminate it.
Our device locking platform provides the foundation that makes large-scale financing viable. MNOS, retailers, and financiers can offer credit confidently by embedding a hardware-secured layer of trust. Customers are kept in touch with their bill with reminders, notifications and messages, and if necessary, the device can be temporarily locked. Once payment is made, functionality is restored. The process is automated, transparent, and secure.
Users gain fair access smartphones without hidden penalties. Operators protect revenue and reduce bad debt. The technology supports micro-repayments, subscription plans, and buy now pay later schemes, integrating with existing billing systems. Operators can scale efficiently while strengthening customer loyalty.
Secure device financing reduces bad debt, enabling operators to expand portfolios. Each secured device represents a new connected customer, translating into higher ARPU, lower churn, and a stronger competitive position. Modest repayment plans can bring millions of new users online, increasing data usage and service adoption. This is how financing closes the usage gap.
Technology alone isn’t enough. Financing must be transparent and fair. Customers need to understand what happens if they miss a payment and how devices are reinstated.
Trustonic puts user trust at the center. Devices are never locked without communication, and unlocking is straightforward. The goal is accountability, not punishment, building long-term confidence. Transparency benefits the entire value chain, enabling sustainable scale.
Affordable devices have profound ripple effects. Each new smartphone user participates in the digital economy accessing banking, education, telemedicine, and more.
For governments, closing the usage gap accelerates national connectivity goals. For MNOS, untapped demand becomes active users, driving growth in data, fintech, and value-added services. A 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration can boost GDP growth in developing markets. Secure device financing is a catalyst for economic development.
As coverage expands, the challenge shifts from building networks to building access. Secure device financing is a practical way to close the usage gap, aligning commercial incentives with social outcomes.
At Trustonic, we partner with operators, financiers, retailers, and OEMs to help millions take their first step into the digital economy safely.
The goal is simple: a world where everyone who can connect, does connect.
