GO TO BOX 1.1 <!-- Start of picture text -->
1.4<br>Account penetration among poorest 40 percent within economies<br>Adults in poorest 40 percent of households by whether<br>with or without account (%), 2014<br>91<br>61 Without account<br>44 41<br>38<br>25 With account<br>7<br>East Asia Europe High-income Latin Middle South Sub-Saharan<br>& Pacific & Central OECD America & East Asia Africa<br>Asia economies Caribbean<br>Source:  Global Findex database.<br>THE GLOBAL FINDEX DATABASE  14<br><!-- End of picture text -->

An important caveat to this comparison of 2011 and 2014 data is that the definition of account ownership has been changed to reflect developments in the financial sector. While the 2011 Global Findex data on account ownership include only adults with an account at a financial institution, the 2014 data, as noted, also include those with a mobile money account. Even so, the comparison of the 2011 and 2014 data is virtually identical to a definitionally cleaner comparison between 2011 accounts and 2014 financial institution accounts for all regions except Sub-Saharan Africa, the only one with significant penetration of mobile money accounts on average. This is clearly illustrated in figure 1.3.

The change in definition means that all mobile money accounts in 2014 are considered to be new accounts, including those owned by the 12 percent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa who reported having one. Because mobile money accounts became widely available only after 2011, this is a reasonable assumption for most countries. But in such countries as Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, where mobile money accounts became common before 2011, the growth in account ownership attributed to these accounts between 2011 and 2014 is probably somewhat overstated (box 1.1). While the 2011 Global Findex survey included a question about the use of mobile financial services in Africa, this question did not ask about ownership of a mobile money account. Instead, it asked more broadly whether the respondent had used a mobile phone in the past year to pay bills or to send or receive money. Since this can include over-the-counter transactions for which no mobile money account is necessary, the numbers are not comparable.

# How does account ownership vary by individual characteristics?

Grouping people by such characteristics as income, gender, age, or rural residence can reveal important gaps in account ownership. This section documents these gaps and looks at whether they have narrowed or widened since 2011.

# _The gap between income quintiles_

A comparison of account penetration across within-economy income quintiles sheds light on the role of relative income. Not surprisingly, adults in the poorest 40 percent of households are less likely than others to have an account (figure 1.4). On average in developing economies, 46 percent of these adults reported having an account in 2014, compared with 54 percent of all adults. But account ownership in this population also reflects absolute income levels across regions. In the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa account FIGURE 1.4 ownership among adults in the poorest 40 Adults in poorest 40 percent of households by whether percent of households is particularly low. In with or without account (%), 2014 high-income OECD economies, by contrast, it is almost universal. 91 Yet even within high-income OECD economies there are gaps in account ownership between income quintiles—though the size of these gaps varies. Consider the G-7 countries (figure 1.5). In Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom there is no significant difference in account