24.10.2013
- Unbanked people including the poor, less educated and unemployed are more
likely to get their financial services from a post office than a bank or other
financial institution, confirms a global analysis by the Universal Postal Union
and the World Bank.
Investing in an extended, more
modern postal network could be an essential part of a country’s national policy
to foster financial inclusion
The study Financial Inclusion and the Role of the Post Office also shows that the postal
network’s reach and size can significantly boost account ownership among the
less privileged.
The findings were presented today
during a global forum on financial inclusion for development organized by the
Universal Postal Union in Geneva, Switzerland.
With only 44 per cent of adults in
developing countries that offer postal financial services having an account –
either at the post, at a bank or both –, compared to a 90-per-cent penetration
in high-income economies, there is still an enormous potential for postal
networks to ease financial inclusion, say the authors, economists from the UPU
and the World Bank.
“In a few developing and emerging
countries, like Brazil, India, China, Morocco or South Africa, there is strong
evidence to prove that the postal network has largely contributed to bringing
people into the financial fold,” says UPU economist José Anson. “The postal network
exists in other developing countries, too, but it is underused. Policy choices
are at the heart of this discrepancy, and countries wanting to facilitate
financial inclusion should pay attention.”
The findings of the new study, which
provides a unique global profile of who uses postal financial services, are
based on interviews with 150,000 adults in close to 150 countries as part of
the 2011 Gallup World Poll for the World Bank’s Global Database on Financial
Inclusion. The results were further refined by analysing the responses of
65,000 people in 60 countries offering postal banking services to determine the
type of clients post offices reach, compared to traditional financial
institutions.
Comparing people with an account at
a financial institution or both a financial institution and a post office to
those with an account at the post office only, the results show that the latter
tend to be significantly poorer, older, less educated and less likely to be
employed.
“Our findings help us better
understand who banks at post offices and develop a deeper and more nuanced
understanding of how these can increase financial inclusion,” says Leora
Klapper, lead economist at the World Bank. “Post offices, and particularly
partnership models, can play a leading role in providing financial services to
segments of the population particularly likely to be financially excluded.”
“As the economies of developing
countries increasingly grow, governments can leverage the postal network to
distribute social payments to their populations,” adds Anson. “Investing in an
extended, more modern postal network could be an essential part of a country’s
national policy to foster financial inclusion.”
Comments
Post a Comment