Update of the Universal Financial Access Global Payment System Survey 2015, World Bank, October 2016
The World Bank has published the updated Global Payment System Survey (GPSS) 2015. The main outcomes are the following:
in 18 Universal Financial Access (UFA) focus countries that account for 50% of the world’s unbanked, one transaction account was created for every 6 unbanked people in 2015;
deposit transaction accounts are the main gateway to financial access;
e-money accounts, particularly mobile money accounts, have been gaining ground in certain regions, especially Sub-Saharan Africa;
cashless transactions for UFA countries rose 5 times faster than high income countries in 2015.
What is the GPSS?
In 2013, the World Bank Group (WBG) stated that it envisions a universal financial access (UFA) for the adults worldwide by 2020. It means that adults will be able to have access to a transaction account to store money, and make and receive payments. In 2015, the WBG announced that it will help enable reaching 1 billion financially excluded adults via transaction accounts. To monitor progress towards the UFA goal, the Global Payment Systems Survey (GPSS) – a bi-annual survey of central banks to collect information on the status of payment systems worldwide- was expanded to include a data module on transaction accounts and diversified access points as key drivers for financial access.
What is the Universal Financial Access 2020 (UFA) Goal?
By 2020, adults globally have access to an account or electronic instrument to store money, send and receive payments as the basic building block to manage their financial lives.
