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Worldwide, 79% of adults have an account at a bank or similar financial institution, with a mobile money provider, or both, up from 74% in 2021.
According to the 2025 Global Findex Report, ownership of financial accounts increased globally by 5 percentage points between 2021 and 2024 and by 6 percentage points in low- and middle-income economies, in which 75% of adults now have an account.
The reporter alluded that account owners increasingly use their mobile phones or debit or credit cards connected to their accounts to make transactions.
As such, more than half of all accounts in low- and middle-income economies are digitally enabled in this way, including both mobile money accounts and accounts at banks or similar financial institutions such as credit unions, cooperatives, microfinance institutions, or post offices.
The report explained that mobile money accounts are driving the increase in account ownership. Indeed, the growth over the past 10 years in the share of adults who own any kind of account is equivalent to the increase in the share of people owning either only a mobile money account or a mobile money account along with an account at a bank or similar financial institution.
“Telecommunications companies in Sub-Saharan Africa catalyzed the mobile money revolution by offering simple transactional accounts via mobile phones. These companies often operate independently of traditional banks. Though they emerged in East Africa, they have since spread across the continent and are the dominant financial providers in some of the region’s economies, supporting a range of financial activities, including making and receiving payments, saving, and borrowing”, it pointed out.
“Even as mobile money continues as a Sub-Saharan African success story, other regions are reaping the benefits, too. In Latin America and the Caribbean, adoption of mobile money, typically used in combination with or to digitally enable accounts at banks and similar financial institutions, is approaching levels seen in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some economies across Europe and Central Asia are also narrowing gaps in financial inclusion by embracing mobile money or other digitally enabled accounts”, it added.
Mobile Phones Ownership
Meanwhile, 86% of adults worldwide own a mobile phone.
According to the report, most adults with a mobile phone own a smartphone, though basic phones, which do not enable internet access, still play an important role providing more affordable connectivity in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Expanding the prevalence of smartphones is nonetheless important for increasing access to economic opportunities and more robust financial services, as these devices are the primary means by which people in low- and middle-income economies access the internet”, it said.
The report about 70 percent of the global population, use a smartphone to get online.
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