Financial Inclusion in the Maldives : Findex 2018 Survey
In this note authors explore the many ways that adults in the Maldives are using digital payment services through mobile phones, the internet, and bank accounts. The authors also explore savings habits and outline opportunities to use digital techn...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/570891571303596376/Financial-Inclusion-in-the-Maldives-Findex-2018-Survey http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32617 |
| Summary: | In this note authors explore the many
ways that adults in the Maldives are using digital payment
services through mobile phones, the internet, and bank
accounts. The authors also explore savings habits and
outline opportunities to use digital technology to bring
financial services to adults who still have no accounts. The
Findex Notes series summarizes data compiled by the Global
Findex from nationally representative surveys of more than
150,000 adults in over 140 economies in 2017, including more
than 1,000 adults in the Maldives. Research is showing that
when people embrace digital financial services, a range of
development benefits follow. When women in India received
personal accounts linked to a jobs guarantee program, they
increased their labor force participation and earnings
compared to women who received such payments into a join
account controlled by their husbands. The improvements in
employment and earnings improvements disproportionately
benefitted women with previously low labor force
participation and those whose husbands were most opposed to
their getting a job. Women-headed households in Nepal spent
15 percent more on nutritious foods (meat and fish) and 20
percent more on education after receiving free savings
accounts. Another study found that the adoption of mobile
money accounts in Kenya helped lift 194,000 people out of
poverty, and that the accounts proved especially beneficial
for women. Mobile money has also been cited as a fast and
efficient method of sending and receiving funds from a
network of acquaintances during an emergency, potentially
reducing the likelihood that those impacted by a financial
crisis will descend into poverty. |
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