The 2014 (World Bank’s) Global Findex Database measuring Financial Inclusion around the world reveals significant progress in expanding financial access, with 700 million adults worldwide became account holders between 2011 and 2014.

The report obtained by Nigeria CommunicationsWeek showed that the number of unbanked adults has decreased from 2.5 to 2 billion people around the globe as East Asia and Pacific region increased account ownership by 25% and made significant progress expanding account ownership among the poor.

Other indicators from the report are,

-Latin America and Caribbean made good strides bringing the poor into the financial system, including 40 million adults who receive government payments into accounts.

-South Asia has added 185 million adults with new accounts since 2011

Based on the study it appears more work is needed to connect women to financial services and drive usage of accounts.

-Women make up 55% of the world’s unbanked adults – 1.1 billion

-While 50% of women now have an account, there is still a 9% gender gap

-Among all adults who have an account:

-1.3 billion still pay for electronic, water or trash collection in cash

-500 million pay school fees in cash

-355 million send/receive remittances in cash or over-the-counter

Globally, 62% of adults reported having an account in 2014, up from 51% in 2011.

The share of adults with an account increased in nearly every economy.

Not surprisingly, however, the extent of account ownership continues to vary widely around the world. In high-income OECD economies account ownership is almost universal: 94% of adults reported having an account in 2014.

In developing economies only 54% did. There are also enormous disparities among developing regions, where account penetration ranges from 14% in the Middle East to 69% in East Asia and the Pacific.

The 2014 Global Findex database defines account ownership as having an account either at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider.

The first category includes accounts at a bank or another type of financial institution, such as a credit union, cooperative, or microfinance institution.

The second consists of mobile phone–based services used to pay bills or to send or receive money. The definition of a mobile money account is limited to services that can be used without an account at a financial institution.

Adults using a mobile money account linked to their financial institution are considered to have an account at a financial institution.

Globally, nearly all adults who reported owning an account in 2014 said that they have an account at a financial institution: 60% of adults reported having a financial institution account only, 1% having both a financial institution account and a mobile money account, and 1% a mobile money account only.

But while only 2% of adults worldwide have a mobile money account, in Sub-Saharan Africa 12% do—half of them a mobile money account only.

All 13 countries around the world where the share of adults with a mobile money account is 10 percent or more are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In 5 of these 13 countries—Côte d’Ivoire, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe—more adults reported having a mobile money account than an account at a financial institution.

The 2014 Global Findex database shows great progress in expanding financial inclusion around the world. But large gaps remain.

Many people around the world, particularly women and poorer adults, still do not have an account.

Among adults in the poorest 40% of households within individual developing economies, the share without an account fell by 17%points on average between 2011 and 2014—yet more than half (54 percent) remain unbanked.

Among adults in the richest 60 percent of households, by contrast, 40 percent are unbanked.

For most people, owning an account provides an entry point into the formal financial system. An account makes it easier and often more affordable to pay bills, to receive payments, and to send or receive remittances.

It also offers a safe place to store money and so can encourage saving. And it can open access to credit from a financial institution.

In short, having an account is a marker of financial inclusion.

Ownership Of Accounts

For the 2014 Global Findex database, account ownership is defined as having an account either at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider.

The first category includes accounts at a bank or another type of financial institution, such as a credit union, cooperative, or microfinance institution.

The second consists of mobile phone–based services used to pay bills or to send or receive money.

To identify people with a mobile money account, the 2014 Global Findex survey asked respondents about their use of specific services that are available in their country—such as M-PESA, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money, or Orange Money—and included in the GSM Association’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked (GSMA MMU) database.

The definition of a mobile money account is limited to services that can be used without an account at a financial institution. People using a mobile money account linked to their financial institution are considered to have an account at a financial institution.

The question on mobile money accounts was asked only in the 74 economies—among the 143 included in the survey—where the GSMA MMU database indicates that mobile money accounts were available at the time the survey was carried out.

How does account ownership vary around the world? Not surprisingly, account ownership varies widely around the world.

In high-income OECD economies account ownership is almost universal: 94% of adults reported having an account in 2014. In developing economies only 54 percent did.

How Has Account Ownership Changed Over Time?

The first round of Global Findex data was collected in 2011, and the second round three years later.

How do the 2014 data on account ownership compare with the earlier data? Globally, the share of adults with an account increased by 11% points, from 51% in 2011 to 62 percent in 2014.

And the number of adults without an account—the unbanked—fell from 2.5 billion to 2 billion.6 Yet while the number of unbanked adults fell by 500 million, the number of adults who became account holders over this period is actually larger—700 million.

The difference between these numbers is due to population growth. In 2011 the world’s adult population was 5 billion, with 2.5 billion adults having an account and 2.5 billion being unbanked.

By 2014 the world’s adult population had increased to 5.2 billion, with 3.2 billion adults having an account and 2 billion being unbanked. Account ownership increased in every region.

But the growth was particularly strong in East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, each of which saw an increase in account penetration of more than 10% points.

The increase was concentrated in financial institution accounts everywhere except Sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile money accounts drove the growth in overall account penetration from 24 percent in 2011 to 34% in 2014.

In East Africa, where mobile money accounts are most common, these accounts increased overall account penetration by 9 percentage points to 35 percent while the share of adults with an account at a financial institution remained steady at 26 percent