The World Banks' Global Findex 2021 shows that 90% of Iranians had accounts with financial institutions in 2021.
Financial inclusion is a cornerstone of development, and since 2011, the Global Findex Database has been the definitive source of data on ways in which adults around the world use financial services, from payments to savings and borrowing, and manage financial events such as a major expense or a loss of income.
Almost 78% of Iranians deposited money with financial institutions, higher than 67% in 2017, the WB said. About 33% had deposited some money into their bank accounts two or more times in a month. From the total people holding accounts with banks, 80% had withdrawn money from their accounts every month.
Results from the first survey were published in 2011 and were followed by subsequent reports in 2014 and 2017.
The 2021 edition, based on nationally representative surveys of about 128,000 adults in 123 economies during the Covid-19 pandemic, contains updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services, including the use of cards, mobile phones, and the internet to make and receive digital payments—including the adoption of digital merchant and utility payments during the pandemic—and offers insights into the behaviors that enable financial resilience.
No Money to Put in Banks
Not having enough money was the reason for not having a bank account for 51% of Iranians who had no accounts with banks. Almost 25% blamed the high costs of financial services as the reason for not having a bank account, whereas 13% of people preferred not to deposit funds into bank accounts due to religious reasons.
About 8% of those who had no account with banks said bank branches were not close to them.
According to the Central Bank of Iran, 36 banks and credit institutions are licensed to operate in Iran and have more than 19,700 branches across the country.
Financial Woes
Almost 48% said they were very worried about not having enough money for old age. Some 23% were highly worried about not having enough money to pay monthly expenses.
Some 47% of respondent had savings, 4 percentage points more than in 2017, the report said. It also said that only 24% of respondents had saved money with financial institutions, whereas the figure was 26% in 2017.
From the total respondents, 19% had saved some money for old age.
Nearly 56% of the people had received pensions from the government in 2021.
According to the findings, 61% of Iranians had borrowed money and only 25% had borrowed from formal financial institutions. The largest portion of borrowers had borrowed from friends and family -- 40% of the total population aged above 15.
Digitalization
As per the report, some 84% of Iranians had made digital payments. Nearly 7% of Iranians had a credit card in 2021, 2 percentage points less than in 2017 while 83% owned debit cards.
WB data also showed that 48% of respondents had used mobile phone or internet bank to send or receive money.
Data suggests that only 12% of Iranians use mobile money accounts, though two-thirds of this group used mobile money accounts at least two times in a month.
Some 31% used mobile phones to purchase goods online, and 33% used mobile phones or the internet to transfer money.
Global Figures and Covid-19
Globally, in 2021, 76% of adults had an account at a bank or regulated institution such as a credit union, microfinance institution, or a mobile money service provider. Account ownership around the world increased by 50% in ten years spanning 2011 to 2021, from 51% of adults to 76% of adults. From 2017 to 2021, the average rate of account ownership in developing economies increased by 8 percentage points, from 63% of adults to 71% of adults.
Receiving digital payments such as a wage payment, a government transfer, or a domestic remittance, catalyzes the use of other financial services, such as storing, saving, and borrowing money.
In developing economies in 2021, 18% of adults paid utility bills directly from an account. About one-third of these adults did so for the first time after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The share of adults making a digital merchant payment also increased after the outbreak of Covid. For example, in India about 80 million adults made their first digital merchant payment during the pandemic.
Moreover, in developing economies, excluding China, 20% of adults made a digital merchant payment in 2021. Contained within that 20% were 8% adults, on average, who did so for the first time after the start of the pandemic, or about 40% of those who made a digital merchant payment.
These data point to the role of the pandemic and social distancing restrictions in accelerating the adoption of digital payments.
Only 55% of adults in developing economies could access emergency money within 30 days without much difficulty. Friends and family were the first-line source of emergency money for 30% of adults in developing economies, but nearly half of those said the money would be hard to get. Furthermore, women and the poor were less likely than men and richer individuals to successfully raise emergency money and more likely to rely on friends and family as their go-to source.
About 50% of adults in developing economies were very worried, in particular, about covering health expenses in the event of a major illness or accident, and 36% said health care costs were their biggest worry.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, worry over school fees was the most common worry overall (for 54% of adults) and the biggest worry for 29%. Eighty-two percent of adults in developing economies were very worried (52%) or somewhat worried (30%) about the continued financial toll of the pandemic.
