India Has The Largest Number Of Adults Without Mobile Money Accounts
The five countries with the largest number of adults without mobile money accounts have remained the same since 2011, despite significant increases in account ownership in some of them, such as India
Chennai: Despite a 90 per cent mobile money account ownership rate, due to its large population India has the largest number of adults without accounts in the world, according to the World Bank.
A large-population economy can have a high rate of account ownership and still be home to many people without accounts. For instance, both China and India have account ownership rates of nearly 90 percent, yet they are also home to the largest number of adults without accounts, the report said.
The five countries with the largest number of adults without mobile money accounts have remained the same since 2011, despite significant increases in account ownership in some of them, such as India. These five countries are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
Women, lower-income, less educated, younger, and more rural adults are less likely to have mobile money accounts.
In India, having a family member with an account is the most common reason adults without accounts give for not having their own. The second-most-common barrier is not having enough money, followed by the cost of financial services and financial institutions being too far away.
India has made progress in increasing the share of adults with active accounts. Despite its comparatively low rate of active accounts, both the absolute number and the percentage of adults with active accounts in India has increased.
More men than women own active accounts, though the gender gap in ownership of active accounts as a percentage of account owners fell from 12 percentage points in 2021 to 7 percentage points in 2024. This decrease may be due to the large increase in women receiving government-to-person (G2P) payments digitally, from 13 per cent in 2021 to 24 percent in 2024. In 2021, 59 per cent of women received a G2P payment and 81 per cent of women received a G2P payment in 2024.
The income gap in digital payment use in South Asia is 20 percentage points. This divide is driven by India, where 42 percent of poorer adults with accounts and 62 percent of wealthier adults with accounts use digital payments.
Aligning and strengthening regulations, consumer protection, product design, and support for delivery channels with people’s needs and challenges could help ensure that financial systems are more effective in bolstering inclusive economic participation and improving long-term financial health.
