moving both types of payments into accounts could increase the number of adults with an account by up to 160 million—by bringing into the financial system the 8 percent of unbanked adults worldwide who receive either government wages or transfers only in cash.<sup>17</sup> Moreover, digitizing government payments can also benefit governments—by improving the security, transparency, and efficiency of these payments.<sup>18</sup> The private sector could also make a big contribution by shifting wage payments from cash into accounts. Globally, 14 percent of unbanked adults worldwide receive private sector wages only in cash. Paying these private sector wages through accounts rather than in cash could increase the number of adults with an account by up to 280 million.

There is little variation across developing regions in the share of unbanked adults who receive wages or government transfers in cash. But because of the vastly greater size of the adult population in East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia, these two regions could have the greatest impact in increasing the number of adults with an account.

# _Payments for the sale of agricultural products_

Payments for the sale of agricultural products offer another opportunity for increasing account ownership among the unbanked. In developing economies overall, 23 percent of unbanked adults—440 million people—receive payments in cash for the sale of agricultural products. Across developing regions, 36 percent of unbanked adults (125 million) receive such payments in cash in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 percent (160 million) in East Asia and the Pacific, and 17 percent (105 million) in South Asia.

Many people who receive payments for the sale of agricultural products are part of an agricultural value chain. This means that one actor—such as an agricultural commodity buyer—can have an outsize influence on how such payments are received. Just as with wages and government transfers, digitizing agricultural payments could therefore contribute to rapid expansion in account ownership.<sup>19</sup>

# Channeling domestic remittances through accounts

The potential for a single actor to affect many recipients makes focusing on wages, government transfers, and agricultural payments an obvious means for rapidly expanding financial inclusion. But opportunities can also be found in one-to-one remittance payments. In developing economies 14 percent of unbanked adults—270 million of those without an account—send or receive domestic remittances only in cash. In Sub-Saharan Africa 22 percent of unbanked adults—almost 80 million—do so.

These figures suggest an enormous opportunity for designing appropriate, affordable, and convenient financial products to enable unbanked adults to send or receive remittances through an account. While these people will need to overcome the hurdles involved in moving from cash to digital payments, they already have a specific reason for using an account—to send or receive remittances.

But the opportunities go beyond shifting remittances from cash into accounts. In developing economies 5 percent of unbanked adults—100 million in total—send or receive remittance payments through over-the-counter (OTC) transactions. In Sub-Saharan Africa the share is 12 percent—or almost 40 million unbanked adults. Compared with those who use cash for remittances, people who use an OTC transaction represent an opportunity

> THE GLOBAL FINDEX DATABASE 66