Three quarters of the world still do not have
access to basic financial services such as current accounts,
despite considerable investments to reverse the effects of
financial exclusion, according to Barclays.

The Banking for
Billions report, published by Barclays and the Economist
Intelligence Unit, said there was still a long way to go to close
the gap on 74% of the world’s population who have no access to bank
accounts and loans. 

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The financial crisis is singled out as
impacting financial inclusion, with more emphasis on savings rather
than credit. 

Although developing countries such as Africa
and Asia are identified as having the highest level of unbanked
populations, the report acknowledges that financial exclusion in
developed countries is also widespread. 

About 28 million people in the US and almost
900,000 in the UK do not have access to a current account, while it
is estimated that unbanked consumers rack up an average of £1,000
($1,500) in additional costs each year as they turn to more
expensive methods of paying bills and cashing in
salaries. 

The report said that technology will be an
important factor in boosting the number of banked consumers,
bypassing physical banking infrastructure but warned: “It is highly
unlikely [that mobile banking will be] a panacea, as access to
transaction services does not equate to access to full banking
services.”

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It is predicted that about a billion people in
emerging markets have access to a mobile phone but do not have a
bank account.

By using mobile banking instead of branches, banks can cut costs
of delivering financial services by up to 50%, the report
added.