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The World Bank’s newly released <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2025 Global Findex</a> offers a snapshot of how adults – particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) – access and use financial services. With global economic volatility, climate shocks, and digitization reshaping livelihoods, this year’s Findex marks a pivotal moment. Over three-quarters of adults have formal financial accounts, but what matters now goes beyond access: are these accounts helping people to save, borrow responsibly, manage risk, and prepare for emergencies?

What’s working? The Findex points to encouraging signs of progress across multiple financial inclusion metrics. Since 2011, global account ownership has jumped from 51% to 79% among adults in LMICs. Increasingly more people now have the opportunity and ability to store money, receive wages, government transfers, and remittances directly to their personal accounts. Digital payments are also rapidly rising, and have become the most used formal financial service by adults in LMICs. In 2024, 61% of adults made or received a digital payment, unlocking new opportunities for both small businesses and consumers. The gender gap has narrowed significantly: 77% of women have financial accounts, and some countries – such as India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka – have achieved gender parity in account ownership. Perhaps most significantly, there has been a surge in savings, with 40% of adults in LMICs now saving money – a critical behaviour for building resilience and preparing for shocks.

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Key drivers of success:Mobile connectivity is a leading enabler in account ownership across LMICs, given 86% of adults have a mobile phone. Whether a basic mobile device or smartphone, both allow access to mobile money solutions, helping people to store, send and receive money through their devices. Beyond convenience, mobile money solutions offer greater accessibility to financial services for those who may not have access to traditional banking infrastructure, and are particularly useful for those in rural areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of adults have mobile money accounts, and 37% of adults have mobile money accounts in Latin America and the Caribbean, up from 27% and 22% in 2021, respectively.Smartphone-enabled financial profiles leverage the data generated from mobile phone usage, such as transaction histories and bill payments, to create alternative credit scores. For those without formal and long-term financial histories, these innovative scoring methods reduce barriers to access credit and continue building a financial profile for the future.Digital infrastructure, including national ID systems and mobile payment rails, allow for faster onboarding and interoperability. ID systems are critical for individuals to access financial services and open accounts, while mobile payment rails support the widespread adoption of mobile money accounts by enhancing security and efficiency, especially for last-mile users. As of 2024, more than 50% of all accounts in LMICs are digitally enabled.Community-based fintech solutions that are designed to meet the specific needs of local communities extend services to last-mile populations. These models leverage intermediaries, such as local Individuals and small businesses, to bridge the gap between providers and end users, helping to build trust and extend services to hard-to-reach populations.

From access to usage: Pathways to financial healthWhile great strides have been made bringing people into the formal financial system, leaders driving the financial inclusion agenda forward are calling for a shift in how we measure success, from basic account access to more holistic indicators of financial health. Rather than the objective itself, access and inclusion are now seen as stepping stones to lasting financial health – whether people can 1) Comfortably cover their daily expenses, 2) Build resilience to manage shocks, 3) Plan for future financial goals, and 4) Feel confident in their ability to manage their finances <a href="https://www.unsgsa.org/sites/default/files/resources-files/2021-10/unsgsa%20financial%20health%20summary%20report.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">(UNSGSA, 2021)</a>. Monitoring behaviours beyond account ownership is essential to understand how individuals use financial tools – such as saving regularly, accessing credit responsibly, or insuring against risk – and whether those tools are helping people become more resilient and secure for the future.Yet many are still at the beginning of their journey toward financial health. 1.3B people remain unbanked and disconnected from the digital economy, and usage wavers even among those who are connected. Despite over 2B registered mobile money accounts, only 500M are used actively each month, indicating a significant usage gap (<a href="https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-money-surpasses-two-billion-registered-accounts-and-over-half-a-billion-monthly-active-users-globally/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">GSMA, 2024</a>). And while the gender gap has closed in multiple countries, women remain disproportionately less likely than men to have accounts. As well, improved access to services does not seem to indicate stronger resilience to shocks or emergencies. Formal savings may have increased, yet 50% of adults in LMICs say they would struggle to cover more than a month’s expenses in the event of a shock.So how can we not only provide access to the remaining 1.3B people without accounts, but also facilitate a simple, secure, and dignified journey toward financial resilience and wellbeing? The first step is to identify solutions for users at each point along the journey. The second is to determine which sectors and actors can catalyze access and drive adoption for each group.

Segmenting the path forward: Tailored solutions by user typeLeast served (unbanked, informal, no connectivity) In 29 economies – particularly conflict-affected ones – less than half of adults have an account. Additionally, 31% of adults in LMICs lack both an account and a mobile phone, making them especially difficult to reach. Key barriers include affordability, connectivity, and identity documentation. Overcoming these barriers requires bridging digital divides, solving for identity verification, and building trust in low-literacy environments. Solutions: Low-cost smartphones, biometric authentication, mobile money adoption, pay-as-you-go financing. Example: In rural areas across Africa and Asia, Community Pass provides biometric digital IDs and wallets that function offline, without relying on formal documentation or mobile connectivity. This program currently enables more than 3M people to access financial services, government aid, and agricultural inputs, helping to bridge gaps in ID, connectivity, and trust. <a href="https://www.mastercard.com/content/dam/public/mastercardcom/na/global-site/public-sector/other/humanitarian-community-pass-january2023.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">(Mastercard, 2023)</a>Underserved (accounted but low usage, micro entrepreneurs, women) As access is just the starting point, the challenge for this group lies in driving regular usage and access to more diverse, relevant financial tools. Products must be paired with digital financial literacy programs and designed for daily realities of users. According to <a href="https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-money-surpasses-two-billion-registered-accounts-and-over-half-a-billion-monthly-active-users-globally/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GSMA</a>, women face added barriers of awareness, trust, and low digital confidence. Solutions: Digitally-enabled solutions, embedded financial education, gender-intentional products, credit/savings/insurance bundles within mobile money offerings. Example: In Cambodia, digitizing wages for garment workers created an onramp to provide additional financial services and encourage financially healthy behaviours. During the 4-year program, the number of women paid directly into their accounts rose from 37% to 99%, and 84% of women reported saving regularly now that they have a secure, digital account to keep their savings. <a href="https://riseequal.org/media/fzzbxs54/rise_cambodia-finanical_health_report.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">(RISE, 2023)</a>Emerging middle class (small business owners, formal earners, gig workers) Over 1.1B people joined the middle class in the past decade, a segment increasingly moving beyond subsistence toward resilience mindsets when it comes to their financial lives (HBR, 2025). With 45% of workers in LMICs now receiving digital wages, this group is well-positioned for more advanced financial tools – but economic shocks and lack of financial safety nets still threaten upward mobility. Solutions: Automated savings, pay-as-you-go insurance, digital credit scoring, emergency funds. Example: In a 16-month study across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, nearly 80% of digital product users reported that the tools provided in the study helped them to better manage financial challenges, such as paying operating expenses or accessing credit, and led to significant business growth. <a href="https://www.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Accion_Capstone_paper_EN_FINAL_110922.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">(Accion, 2022)</a>

What's next?Achieving financial health means empowering people to use a range of financial services to build resilience and pursue opportunity. To track progress, measurement must move beyond account ownership to capture deeper outcomes like usage, savings, and business growth. Advancing financial health requires a coordinated ecosystem—governments, fintechs, NGOs, and investors—working together to enable pathways from inclusion to resilience, and ultimately, upward mobility.The Global Findex offers a powerful tool to identify barriers, measure progress, and guide interventions. In the next three years, cross-sector collaboration can help more people confidently manage their financial lives, save for the future, and build wealth — bringing us closer to truly inclusive economic empowerment.<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-inclusion-impact-what-2025-findex-tells-us-financial-mycala-gill-6vojc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Previously published on Linkedin.</a>

From inclusion to impact: What the 2025 Findex tells us about financial health