The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and Opportunities to Expand Access to and Use of Financial Services

Financial services can help drive development. They help people escape poverty by facilitating investments in their health, education, and businesses. And they make it easier to manage financial emergencies-such as a job loss or crop failure-that can push families into destitution. A growing body of research reveals many potential development benefits from financial inclusion-especially from the use of digital financial services, including mobile money services, payment cards, and other financial technology (or fintech) applications. Although the evidence is somewhat mixed, even studies that do not find positive results often point to possibilities for achieving better outcomes through careful attention to local needs.(1) Many poor people around the world lack the financial services that can serve these functions, such as bank accounts and digital payments. Instead, they rely on cash-which can be unsafe and hard to manage. That's why the World Bank has made it a key priority to promote financial inclusion-access to and use of formal financial services. Measurement is key to understanding financial inclusion and identifying opportunities to expand it. In 2011 the World Bank launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive database on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risks. Compiled using nationally representative surveys in of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, the 2017 Global Findex database includes updated indicators on access to, and use of, formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology, including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The 2017 Global Findex is the third survey round, following the initial one and a second one in 2014.