Kanishka NaikFinancial inclusion means individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial services—transactions, savings, credit, and insurance. The World Bank identifies a transaction account as the essential first step toward full financial participation.
The World Bank's 2021 Global Findex Database reported that 76% of adults globally held a bank or mobile money account, up from 51% in 2011. Despite this progress, 1.4 billion adults remained unbanked, with women and rural populations disproportionately represented among them.
Mobile money services have been central to expanding access. M-Pesa, launched in Kenya, enabled millions of previously unbanked individuals to store money and transfer funds via mobile phone, bypassing the need for a physical bank branch or formal identification documents.