The gender gap in account ownership is not narrowing. In 2011, 47 percent of women had an account, while 54 percent of men did. Today 58 percent of women have an account, and 65 percent of men do. This reflects a persistent gender gap of 7 percentage points globally. In developing economies the gender gap remains a steady 9 percentage points.

# Opportunities for expanding financial inclusion

The 2014 Global Findex data point to several promising opportunities for expanding financial inclusion. These fall into two broad categories: expanding account ownership among the unbanked and increasing the use of accounts among those who already have one.

## Expanding account ownership

Globally, 38 percent of adults remain unbanked. Yet among the survey respondents without an account, only 4 percent said that the only reason for not having one is that they do not need one. By providing a regulatory framework conducive to expanding account ownership—such as licensing bank agents, introducing tiered documentation requirements, requiring banks to provide basic or low-fee accounts, and allowing the evolution of new technologies such as mobile money—policy makers can lower or even remove barriers to financial inclusion.<sup>15</sup> The Global Findex data on payments suggest several promising possibilities for expanding account ownership. Each centers on a financial transaction that people are already making, but without the benefit of an account and outside the formal financial system. The challenge in each case is for the private sector to design appropriate financial products that meet the needs of the unbanked and make using an account at least as easy, convenient, and affordable as the alternatives.

Both governments and the private sector can play a pivotal role in increasing financial inclusion by shifting into accounts payments that are now made in cash. Globally, more than 20 percent of unbanked adults—over 400 million people—receive wages or government transfers in cash. Paying government wages and transfers into accounts rather than in cash could increase the number of adults with an account by up to 160 million. And doing the same for private sector wages could increase the number of adults with an account by up to 280 million.

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. Shifting these agricultural payments from cash into accounts might be difficult for individual buyers. But many people who receive them are part of an agricultural value chain, and in these cases large commodity buyers could have an outsize influence on how such payments are received.<sup>16</sup> Yet another opportunity for increasing account ownership lies in encouraging those who send or receive domestic remittances only in cash or through over-the-counter transactions to do so through an account.<sup>17</sup> In developing economies 14 percent of unbanked

> THE GLOBAL FINDEX DATABASE 5