Worldwide: Access to Accounts with Financial Institutions

Roughly two-thirds of all adults worldwide have a bank account. This is a simple, headline-​grabbing finding based on a review of the Global Findex database published by the World Bank. Underlying geographic differences transcend a simple West - developing world divide. Other distinctions, including gender, income, and education, only widen the difference as well. Here are just a few examples of these disparities:

 

World Region. Developing countries in East Asia & the Pacific have pushed ahead of those in other ​r​egions to achieve the highest share of the adult ​population (68.8%) with access to a bank account. Africa - facing an anticipated population boom - remains the region with the greatest disparity between countries in terms of share of the adult ​population with a bank account. On average, 68.8 percent of South African's have a bank account compared to 17.2 percent in neighbouring Zimbabwe, and only 3.5 percent in Niger.

 

Income. On average, the share of the low-income population with access to a bank account changed from 21.1 percent​ in 2011 to 22.3 percent​ in 2014​, with wide differences existing within regions and countries. For example, while Indonesia made large gains in account access between 2011 and 2014, by 2014 only 22 percent of the poorest 40% of the population had a bank account whereas 45 percent of the wealthiest 60% had an account.​

 

 

◖ See also: Mobile Banking | In Focus ◗