IMF Releases the 2018 Financial Access Survey

IMF News, September 28, 2018

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Press Release No. 18/366 dated September 28, 2018.
The ninth annual Financial Access Survey (FAS) results were released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 28, 2018.
The FAS collects annual data on indicators tracking access to and use of financial products, such as deposit accounts, loans, and insurance policies.
The FAS is collected through national central banks or financial regulators.

The dataset covers 189 countries spanning more than 10 years.
The dataset contains 180 time-series on financial access and use (e.g., the number of ATMs, commercial bank branches, and mobile money accounts).
The FAS is described as a unique supply-side database that allows policymakers to formulate and monitor financial inclusion targets and benchmark against peers.

The 2018 FAS expands to include data on non-branch retail agent outlets.
Non-branch retail agent outlets are defined as a form of branchless banking offering basic financial services through retail stores, post offices or small businesses.
Retail agent outlets enable banks to penetrate areas and reach “last-mile” customers not reached by traditional “brick-and-mortar” bank branch networks.
The data suggests retail agent outlets are widespread in South Asia and Latin America, with countries like Mexico, Colombia and Maldives showing fast growth.

The 2018 FAS indicates low-income countries are leading in mobile money adoption.
On average, the number of mobile money accounts in a low-income economy is more than twice the number of bank accounts per 1,000 adults.
Africa continues to lead the mobile money revolution.
Countries cited with fast growth in mobile money accounts and transactions include Bangladesh, Myanmar and Guyana.

The 2018 FAS mainstreamed gender-disaggregated data.
FAS data shows financial inclusion gender gaps remain, but some countries have made significant progress toward greater financial inclusion of women.
Suggested factors contributing to closing the gap include targeted schemes offered by microfinance institutions (e.g., Malaysia) and simplified deposit accounts regulations (e.g., Chile).

Two FAS indicators have been adopted as part of the 2030 SDGs indicator framework:
- the number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults; and
- the number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults.
These indicators are used to monitor Target 8.10, which aims to measure the strengthening of the capacity of domestic financial institutions to expand access to banking, financial services and insurance for all.

The 2018 FAS was made possible with the generous support of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The latest FAS data with country-specific metadata are available at http://data.imf.org/FAS.

IMF Communications Department — Press Release No. 18/366 (September 28, 2018)