an account did so for the first time after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

FIGURE 2.1.12 In developing economies, more than a third of adults paying utility bills from an account did so for the first time after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

Adults paying utility bills in the past year (%), 2014–21

a. High-income economies b. Developing economies

From an account, but not for the first time after the start of COVID-19

Source: Global Findex Database 2021. Note: Data on making a payment from an account for the first time after the start of COVID-19 are available only for developing economies.

period (no data were collected in high-income economies on account usage for utility bill payment after the outbreak of COVID-19).

Across developing economies, utility bill payment practices vary widely. In Egypt, for example, virtually everyone who made utility payments did so in cash, as did more than 80 percent of those paying utility bills in Indonesia, Morocco, Myanmar, and Pakistan, among others (figure 2.1.13). But in many economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (including Kenya and Uganda) and in Brazil, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Russia, and Türkiye, among others, a majority of those paying utility bills did so directly from an account. COVID-19 accelerated the digitalization of utility payments in some developing economies. The share of adults who made a utility payment from an account for the first time after the outbreak of COVID-19 was especially high in many economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. On average, 15 percent of adults in the region did so—almost twice the developing economy average. In Bolivia, for example, 23 percent of adults made their first utility payment from an account after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for about 80 percent of all those who reported having made a utility payment from an account (figure 2.1.13). In Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru, about 15 percent of adults made such payments for the first time after COVID-19 emerged, representing two-thirds or more of all those who made a utility payment from an account. In Brazil, 18 percent of adults made such payments for the first time, almost doubling the share of adults making utility payments from an account.