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Banking services for everyone ? Barriers to bank access and use around the world

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Author Info
Beck, Thorsten
Demirguc-Kunt, Asli
Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad

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Abstract

Using information from 193 banks in 58 countries, the authors develop and analyze indicators of physical access, affordability, and eligibility barriers to deposit, loan, and payment services. They find substantial cross-country variation in barriers to banking and show that in many countries these barriers can potentially exclude a significant share of the population from using banking services. Correlations with bank- and country-level variables show that bank size and the availability of physical infrastructure are the most robust predictors of barriers. Further, the authors find evidence that in more competitive, open, and transparent economies, and in countries with better contractual and informational frameworks, banks impose lower barriers. Finally, though foreign banks seem to charge higher fees than other banks, in foreign dominated banking systems fees are lower and it is easier to open bank accounts and to apply for loans. On the other hand, in systems that are predominantly government-owned, customers pay lower fees but also face greater restrictions in terms of where to apply for loans and how long it takes to have applications processed. These findings have important implications for policy reforms to broaden access.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 4079.

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Date of creation: 01 Dec 2006
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4079

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Related research
Keywords: Banks&Banking Reform; Financial Intermediation; Economic Theory&Research; Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring; Competitiveness and Competition Policy;

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  7. Barth, James R. & Caprio, Gerard Jr. & Levine, Ross, 2004. "Bank regulation and supervision: what works best?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 205-248, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2002. "Financial and legal constraints to firm growth - Does size matter?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2784, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  24. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad, 2005. "Reaching out : access to and use of banking services across countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3754, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  25. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Serven, Luis, 2009. "Are all the sacred cows dead ? implications of the financial crisis for macro and financial policies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4807, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ricardo N. Bebczuk, 2008. "Financial Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean: Review and Lessons," Working Papers 0068, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. [Downloadable!]
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