55 percent of all new bank accounts in the world opened from India: Global Findex Report 2017

The World Bank on April 19, 2018 released the Global Findex Report 2017 indicating that 55 percent of new bank accounts opened globally are from India itself.

The report states that though financial inclusion is on the rise globally, gaps still remain there across the countries. Men still are ahead of women to have an account in a bank.

Globally, 69 percent of adults now have an account at a bank or have enrolled themselves on a mobile money provider. There were 62 percent banked adults in 2014 and just 51 percent in 2011.

The Global Findex Report analyses data of 144 economies to demonstrate that how people use financial services. The report was produced by the World Bank with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with Gallup Inc.

India’s increased account ownership is attributed to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

• India witnessed a great jump in the account ownership during 2014-2017 as 80 percent Indians owned a bank account in 2017; there were only 35 percent bank account holders in 2011.

• Out of the 51.4 crore bank accounts opened globally from 2014-17, around 55 percent were from India.

• Today, Indian women stand at the forefront as the country witnessed a sharp fall in gender gap in terms of bank accounts. This gender gap was 6 percent in 2017, a decline from 20 percent in 2014.

• This notable increase in the bank account ownership in India is attributed it to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a government policy that aimed to increase financial inclusion through biometric identification.

• As per the data of Indian Government, 31.45 crore accounts have been opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana with the aggregate deposit balance of Rs 80545.70 crore, as on April 11, 2018.

• The total number of current and savings accounts in banks rose to 157.1 crore in March 2017.

India stands second for largest unbanked population

• Despite having a relatively high account ownership, India claims a large share of the global unbanked population, after China. Over 190 million Indian adults still do not have a bank account.  

• Out of the total unbanked population of India and China, 60 percent of the unbanked adults are women.

• In India, around 4 in 10 unbanked adults are in the age group of 15 to 24 years.

• China tops the list of unbanked population with 225 million adults who do not have a bank account, followed by India at 2nd (190 million), Pakistan at 3rd (100 million) and Indonesia at 4th (95 million).

• Altogether, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mexico and Bangladesh are home to nearly half of the world's unbanked population.

Key Highlights of the 2017 Global Findex Report

• From 2014 to 2017, 51.4 crore accounts have been opened globally.

• Between 2014 and 2017, there was a substantial increase in use of mobile phones and internet to carry out financial transaction. Over 75 percent account owners sent or received payments digitally across the world.

• Despite a significant rise in the numbers of account holders, there are still 1.7 billion adults who do not have any bank account. Two-thirds of these 1.7 billion adults do own a mobile phone that could help them access financial services.

• In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile money stimulated the financial inclusion. Though the number of adults with a bank account remained flat, the number of mobile money account holders almost doubled to 21 percent.

• In East Asia and the Pacific, despite the stagnant account ownership, the use of digital financial transactions grew in the region. Over 70 percent adults have an account. Moreover, men and women are equally likely to have an account in countries like Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

• In Europe and Central Asia, account ownership of adults rose to 65 percent in 2017 from 58 percent in 2014. Also, the share of adults, making or receiving digital payments, jumped to 60 percent.

• In Latin America and the Caribbean, since 2014, the share of adults making or receiving digital payments rose by 8 percent in economies like Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, and Peru. Access to digital technology could lead to more use of financial technology as 55 percent of adults own a mobile phone and have access to internet.

• In the Middle East and North Africa, the gap between men and women is high as 52 percent of men have an account in comparison to only 35 percent of women, the largest gender gap of any region. Up to 20 million unbanked adults in the region send or receive payments using cash, including 7 million in Egypt.

• In South Asia, over 70 percent adults have a bank account today. This growth was driven by India, where Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana led to the increase in the number of bank accounts to 80 percent. However, men often benefited more than women in the region.