Latin America Is Making Progress on Banking the Unbanked

The world’s 1.4bn people without a bank account are missing out. They lack the security it provides compared with informal ways to save and the benefits of participation in the formal economy, all of which imposes a drag on economic well-being and growth. But there is good news in Latin America and the Caribbean. The number of people in the region opening their first account has been growing faster than the global rate.

In 2021, 6 percent more Latin Americans had a bank account than in 2014—double the global increase of 3 percent over that period. In 2025 financial institutions will aim to maintain that momentum by focusing on women, rural populations and poorer people, who remain unbanked at disproportionately high rates.