Keeping a bank account has almost become an obligation in developed countries. To collect payroll, to receive pension, to pay utility bills, to pay taxes… Banking is required for many functions. Nevertheless, there are still people in Spain who have no affiliation with financial institutions.
The World Bank’s latest Global Findex report has numbers on the non-bank account discrepancy. data that varies greatly between countries And that reflects the degree of financial inclusion that each society has. The degree of bankerization in the most developed regions (Europe, North America…) is comfortably over 90%.
In Spain, it accounts for 98% of the adult population. Banking. Thus, only 2% of citizens live outside the financial sector. According to the World Bank data, there are 689,697 people in our country who do not have banking. One percent (and an amount in the number of people), however, is still too low, according to sources, with 98% of bankerisation representing a practically total level of financial inclusion.
Population without bank account
as a percentage of the adult population
Colombia
Argentina
turkey
Brazil
Chile
America
Italy
Spain
France
Germany
United Kingdom
15.950.584
9.728.734
16.619.308
26.906.166
1.997.422
13.573.396
1.401.949
689.697
419.374
16.764
130.989
fuente world Bank / abc / J. Torres
Population
no bank account
as a percentage of the adult population
Colombia
Argentina
turkey
Brazil
Chile
America
Italy
Spain
France
Germany
United Kingdom
15.950.584
9.728.734
16.619.308
26.906.166
1.997.422
13.573.396
1.401.949
689.697
419.374
16.764
130.989
fuente world Bank / abc / J. Torres
In other countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, 100% of the population has a current account in their name. In France this figure is 99% and in Italy it reaches 97%. Very similar figures in all major European countries. In the United States, for its part, this figure is slightly lower and drops to 95% of banking citizens, but it is still regarded as full financial inclusion.
For other countries the scenario is completely different. Especially for those that are developing or emerging. For example, Chile has 13% of the population with no accounts banking; In Brazil this increased to 16%; In Turkey it is 26%; in Argentina, 28%; and in Colombia, 40%. Very high percentage of the population that is not banking.
Is it possible to stay away from banks? Francisco Rodriguez, senior economist at Funcas and professor of economics at the University of Granada, explains that Being out of the financial system makes things very difficult For the citizen because there are procedures that cannot be done in cash. Olga Cerqueira and Noelia Camara, BBVA research economists, agree that “everything leads you to the need for financial services. If you have to pay for everything by bank transactions, cards…».
However, there are still people who either decide to go bankless, do not consider it necessary or, because of their activity, it will not be possible. Rodriguez explains that «Banking is linked to the job», This is where a profile of people who are not banking related comes to the fore. “There is a connection with the shadow economy.”
who live in sunken economy, And so they are not within the legal system, they choose not to be banking. But this is not the only case. This last expert highlights that there are people who prefer to use another family member’s account, as only one of the adults, especially in pairs, is the one who has the bank account in his or her name. The same goes for young people who are not yet working and are dependent on their parents’ account. “It also has to do with disadvantaged conditions, such as pending sanctions,” he said.
Similarly, there is a part of the population that is already don’t trust the industry financial. “There are people who don’t have accounts because they believe institutions are not going to follow what they expect the bank to give them and how they are treated. Or because They’re not interested in the circumstances,” Rodriguez says.
BBVA research experts emphasize that the situation in developed and developing countries is very different. The reasons are different and, because they have low levels of banking usage, they are a great object of study. “Among the reasons are that the financial institution takes them too far, that it is too expensive and not useful for low-income people, the lack of official documentation in some countries that is required to open an account, etc. ” they say.
