​According to the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion Database, only 51% of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean has a bank account. This figure varies greatly between countries, with more than 80% of the adult population remaining ‘unbanked’ in Nicaragua for less than 35% in Brazil and Costa Rica.

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Furthermore, it means that millions of people have to use cash for each transaction across the continent. With for instance, 96% of the population paying its utility bills in cash — which is more than 3 times the level than can be observed in the United States or the Euro Area.

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​Likewise, half of the population receive its wages in cash and overall, almost 40% of all wages are withdrawn right away. Far from what can be observed in the West: only 10% of the wages are received in cash, and between 4% and 7% of all wages are withdrawn right away.

With so much cash circulating, issues of safety inevitably arise, and without a bank account it becomes harder to invest or save for retirement. Something even more problematic in countries known for the fluctuations of their respective currencies.

​The situation is starting to change, with financial technology companies offering new and cheaper alternatives to traditional banking. All over Latin America, Fintech emerged as way for people to easily access and use their wages and savings. An example would be the numerous mobile money services, which enable the ‘unbanked’ population to make and receive payments through their mobile phones. Today, mobile money services are available in almost every Latin American country, and with an average of 47.4% the region is home to the world’s highest active customer rate (defined as the number of accounts that were used to conduct at least one transaction over the past 90 days). Yet, the total share of adults with a mobile money account is less than 3% in the Latin America & Caribbean region.



Companies like Mimoni, the largest online short-term consumer lender for the unbanked population in Latin America,proved themselves able to disrupt a multi-billion dollar market, and other innovative services are growing at a rapid pace.