金融普惠与经济发展：数据与证据综述（英）

Financial Inclusion and Economic Development A Review of the Data and Evidence Saniya AnsarLeora KlapperDorothe Singer Development EconomicsDevelopment Research GroupJanuary 2025 Policy Research Working Paper11021 Abstract This paper reviews the impact of financial inclusion on eco-nomic development outcomes. It highlights the benefitsof financial inclusion, including greater savings, improvedresilience to economic shocks, and higher levels of eco-nomic empowerment, among others. It looks deeper intoboth the effects of financial inclusion on marginalizedgroups, like women and the poor, while also examining the impacts of different types of financial instruments, likedigital payments and financial accounts. The paper furtherexplores the role that government payment programs andregulatory actions can play in inducing greater financialinclusion, highlighting the need for more policies, products,and incentives to promote greater adoption of financialservices for sustainable development. The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about developmentissues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry thenames of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely thoseof the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank andits affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. Financial Inclusion and Economic Development:A Review of the Data and Evidence Saniya Ansar, Leora Klapper, and Dorothe Singer* JEL: G51, G53, G21, G23, G28Keywords: Financial inclusion; Mobile money; Household finance; Digital payments 1. Introduction Financial inclusion refers to the ownership and use of financial products to enable personalfinancial wellbeing. Research shows that having and using a financial account creates significanteconomic benefits for individuals, households, and small businesses by enabling people to safelymanage their finances, increase savings, access credit, and receive money from friends or family(Moore, et al., 2019). These benefits help account owners weather financial ups and downs andcapture economic opportunities more effectively than their unbanked peers.As a result,organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and the G20, as well as governmentfinancial ministries around the world, have made financial inclusion a cornerstone of theirdevelopment policies. However, significant barriers limit access to appropriate and affordable financial services forunbanked adults. Women, people with low incomes or low education, and adults who are out ofthe workforce are all more likely than men and higher-income, more educated adults to beunbanked and confront barriers to access and usage. If left unmediated, the lack of access tofinancial services creates a damaging cycle, whereby the people who are already the mostvulnerable to poverty lack access to the financial tools and resources that could help them avoidit. Yet recent innovations, as well as new government-led interventions, have shown thatovercoming access barriers is possible when accounts are affordable, practical, and convenient.This paper provides an overview of how global financial inclusion reduces poverty and improvesoutcomes, and how both technology and government-led programs are helping to increaseaccess. The paper starts by highlighting available evidence about the benefits of account accessand usage and an overview of the state of financial inclusion worldwide, followed by adiscussion of the policies, products, and incentives that will be needed to safely expand financialaccess for positive development impact. Throughout, we highlight the impact of the pandemicand digital technology on recent advances in financial inclusion. 2.Account ownership and development outcomes Around 76 percent of adults worldwide had a financial account as of 2021, according to theGlobal Findex database (2021). This represents a 50 percent increase from the worldwide average of 51 percent reported in 2011. Growth in developing economies was even higher,increasing to 71 percent in 2021 from 42 percent in 2011—a more than 70 percent increase.1 Financial account holders use their accounts for a range of purposes, such as storing money andmaking payments using electronic transfers, cards, the internet, or a mobile phone. “Accounts”can be with a regulated financial institution like a bank, credit union, or microfinance institution,any of which may offer internet or mobile phone-based access. Accounts may also be offered bymobile money service providers, which include telecommunications operators and “fintechs”(nonbank financial technology providers). In the case of m