Global Findex

The Fintech revolution: The end of banks as we know them?

The retrenchment and intensified regulation of the traditional banking system after the global financial crisis, combined with greater access to information technology and wider use of mobile devices, have allowed a new generation of firms to flourish and deliver a wide array of financial services. What does this mean for the traditional banking system?

In the Global Financial Development Report 2017/18 and a new Research and Policy Brief, we argue that despite the rapid expansion of fintech companies, so far, the level of disruption seems to have been low. This is partly driven by the complementarity between the services provided by many fintech providers and traditional banks. That is, in many instances, the new fintech companies bring alternative sources of external finance to consumers and SMEs, without displacing banks. For example, online lending is an alternative for the type of borrower usually underserved by traditional banks. This is of special relevance not only for households and firms in the developing world (where the banking system is often underdeveloped), but also for underserved borrowers in high-income countries. Moreover, because a bank account is needed to perform many of the fintech services, it is hard now to imagine fintech companies overtaking banks completely and becoming involved in the current accounts niche. There will always be need for a highly regulated service that allows households and firms to keep their money safe and accessible. Banks seem to be the players best suited for that role.

We're delighted to release the 2017 Global Findex, the third round of the world's most detailed dataset of how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk.

Drawing on surveys with more than 150,000 adults in more than 140 economies worldwide, the latest Global Findex features new data on fintech transactions made through mobile phones and the internet. It also provides time series updates for benchmark financial inclusion indicators.

The data shows that financial inclusion is on the rise globally, with 1.2 billion adults opening accounts since 2011, including 515 million in the last three years alone. That means 69 percent of adults globally have an account, up from 62 percent in 2014 and 51 percent in 2011. We see that Fintech, or financial technology, plays a progressively greater role in countries like China, where 50% of account owners use a mobile phone to make a transaction from their account. Compared to 2014, twice as many adults in Brazil and Kenya are paying utility bills digitally.

Surging account ownership among the poor. The highest rate of account ownership among women in developing countries. Widespread formal saving.

Those are some of the key financial inclusion trends in East Asia and the Pacific, as outlined in a new policy note drawing on the 2014 Global Findex database.

Since 2011, about 700 million adults worldwide have signed up for an account at a formal financial institution (like a bank) or a mobile money account. That means 62 percent of adults now have an account, up from 51 percent three years ago.

East Asia and the Pacific made an outsized contribution to this global progress. About 240 million adults in the region left the ranks of the unbanked; 69 percent now have an account, an increase from 55 percent in 2011 (figure 1). Poor people led the regional advance, as account ownership among adults living in the poorest 40 percent of households surged by 22 percentage points — to 61 percent. Much of the growth was concentrated in China — which saw account penetration deepen on the bottom of the income ladder by 26 percentage points — but China was hardly alone. In both Indonesia and Vietnam, account ownership doubled among adults living in the poorest 40 percent of households.

Access to finance is an important tool against poverty since it allows for the smoothing of consumption. The equality of access amongst different groups in the society is also crucial in terms of correctly allocating the positive benefits of improved financial services.

In a recent paper published in the World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series we proposed and computed an Equity Adjusted Coverage rate (EACR) for a range of financial inclusion indicators in Turkey. This work complements the conventional coverage or use of financial services by adjusting for the equity of its coverage, on the basis of a set of `circumstances’. The characteristics or circumstances that are accounted for, in Turkey’s case, are gender, age, education, income quintile, and urban/rural.

I am pleased to announce the release of the 2014 Global Findex microdata, which includes individual-level responses from almost 150,000 adults around the world. You can download it all here.

Drawing on interviews with adults in 143 countries, the 2014 Findex database measures account ownership at banks and other financial institutions and with mobile money providers, and explores how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. For each of these countries, the microdata unpacks about 1,000 individual-level survey observations.

With this data, which was collected by Gallup, Inc. in calendar year 2014, you can dive deeper into the indicators presented in the main Findex database. For example, the country-level indicators explore the income gap by looking at adults in the poorest 40 percent and richest 60 percent of households, but the microdata splits it into quintiles. The microdata also covers topics that weren’t included on the country-level, such as unbanked adults' reasons for lacking an account.

For a more detailed discussion of Global Findex findings and methodology, visit our website and see our working paper.

I hope you will make good use of the data, and share your findings with us on Twitter @GlobalFindex.

Today we release our new research paper and the 2014 Global Findex dataset, an updated edition of the world’s most comprehensive gauge of global progress on financial inclusion. It’s based on interviews with almost 150,000 adults in more than 140 countries worldwide.

We have plenty to celebrate:

Account penetration is deepening in every region. Sixty-two percent of the world’s adult population has an account, up from 51 percent in 2011, when the Global Financial Inclusion database (as it’s known formally) was launched.
The ranks of the unbanked are shrinking Worldwide, the number of adults without an account tumbled by 20 percent, to 2 billion.
Mobile money accounts — accessed via mobile phone — is powering Sub-Saharan Africa’s march toward financial inclusion. While just 1 percent of adults globally use a mobile account and nothing else, 12 percent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa have a mobile account — versus just 2 percent worldwide. Of those adults in Sub-Saharan Africa with a mobile account, 45 percent rely on that account exclusively.

The Little Data Book on Financial Inclusion I’m thrilled to announce the April 15 launch of the 2014 Global Findex database, the world’s most comprehensive gauge of global financial inclusion. Drawing on interviews with almost 150,000 adults in over 140 countries, the Global Findex tracks worldwide changes in account ownership and explores how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Financial inclusion, measured by the Global Findex as having an account that allows adults to store money and make and receive electronic payments, is critical to ending global poverty. Studies show that broader access to, and participation in, the financial system can boost job creation, increase investments in education, and directly help poor people manage risk and absorb financial shocks.

Our research updates the first Global Findex database, which the World Bank launched in 2011 in partnership with Gallup, Inc. and with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Their continued support made it possible to add new features to the second edition of the database, including more nuanced questions on mobile banking and an extended module on domestic payments. The 2014 Findex for the first time sheds light on how adults use accounts — and what can be done to have people become more active users of the financial system.

There is much good news to report…. But to learn the details, you’ll need to follow our data launch during the annual World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings.

Global Findex

The Fintech revolution: The end of banks as we know them?

New Global Findex data shows big opportunities for digital payments

Moving toward financial inclusion in East Asia and the Pacific

How equitable is access to finance in Turkey? Evidence from the latest Global FINDEX

Launching the 2014 Global Findex microdata

Updated Global Findex: 62% of adults have an account; 2 billion still unbanked

The 2014 Global Findex

Global Findex

follow us

newsletter