The past two decades have seen a rapid increase in interest in financial inclusion, both from policymakers and researchers. This paper surveys the main findings from the literature, documenting the trends over time and gaps that have arisen across regions, income levels, and gender, among others. It points out that structural, as well as policy-related, factors, such as encouraging banking competition or channeling government payments through bank accounts, play an important role, and describes the potential macro and microeconomic benefits that can be derived from greater financial inclusion.
Impact / Outcome
This paper surveyed the main findings so far from the empirical and theoretical literature, based on a simple definition of financial inclusion: the extent of access to and use of financial services. Using a variety of data sources, it documented the increase in the banked population worldwide over the past decade, but with persistent gaps between regions, income levels, and gender, among others.
The data reveal other salient features, among them, sizable differences across regions and income levels. First, a key component of the increase in financial inclusion has been the result of a fintech innovation, the adoption of mobile money accounts, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to a lesser degree in South Asia. In Sub-Saharan Africa, over one-fifth of the adult population now uses mobile money accounts, compared to 4 percent worldwide.
Key Metrics
Improve financial inclusion
Year published
07 August 2020 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Government and other public sector