the most commonly cited reasons for account inactivity

FIGURE 2.5.3 In India, distance to financial institutions, lack of trust, and lack of need were the most commonly cited reasons for account inactivity

Adults with an inactive account reporting barrier as a reason for not using account (%), 2021

Source: Global Findex Database 2021.

often did not control how these payments were made, the sheer volume suggests opportunities to digitalize those transactions.

Payments made in cash by account owners likewise suggest opportunities to expand the use of accounts. For example, worldwide, 620 million adult account owners made utility bill payments in cash, and more than 1.6 billion account owners in developing economies used only cash for merchant payments. Digitalizing cash payments is not simply a matter of incentivizing account owners to use an account, however. Financial infrastructure—enabled by actors such as governments, telecommunications providers, payment processors, and financial service providers (including fintechs)—also is needed to create an environment in which safe, affordable, and convenient products and functionality are widely available. Progress is already under way, catalyzed by the wider availability of digital products and services offered by mobile money account providers, financial institutions, and third-party payment service providers, and executed through mobile phones, apps, and the internet. But mobile phones and the internet can only facilitate the use of accounts in locations with reliable electricity, data connectivity, and mobile networks. People will be less inclined to use digital payments if they view them as undependable because of network outages or other technical problems. This is just one way in which the broader business environment is an enabler of financial access.

Telecommunications access is a key enabler. Globally, 70 percent of adults have access to the internet via a mobile phone or a computer, according to the Gallup World Poll (map 2.5.1). In high-income economies, that share is 91 percent, and in developing economies it is 67 percent. In South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, less than half of adults have internet access. Most adults in these two regions do have a mobile phone, however—70 percent in South Asia and 81 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa—which may still enable them to use mobile money accounts, even on a text-based, non–internet-enabled phone.