By Ken Macon

Account ownership and digital payments have increased, so has the gender gap in account ownership, according to the World Bank, after it analyzed the Global Findex 2021 database.

The World Bank attributed the improvement on financial inclusion by controversial modern digital-ID systems, and called for more investment in the technology.

“The world has a crucial opportunity to build a more inclusive and resilient economy and provide a gateway to prosperity for billions of people,” said Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a non-profit that supports the Global Findex database.

“By investing in digital public infrastructure and technologies for payment and ID systems and updating regulations to foster innovation and protect consumers, governments can build on the progress reported in the Findex and expand access to financial services for all who need them,” Gates added.

Between 2017 and 2021, account ownership in Europe and Central Asia grew by 13%. The largest improvement in developing regions was in Latin America, where the increase was 18%.

According to the Global Findex, lack of IDs in Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the major reasons 30% of the region’s population do not own financial accounts. As such, there is “an opportunity for investing in accessible and trusted identification systems.”

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