A three-billion-person challenge: An untapped global market for financial services

Executive summary 1

Introduction 2

Real progress in individual access to finance in 2025: Good news for people and economies 3

Payments 4

Savings 4

Credit 6

Insurance 6

A global majority of economically active adults face significant barriers to using financial services 7

Connectivity 9

Affordability of financial products with transparency around costs 9

Lack of trust 10

Lack of appropriate products 11

DPI and AI have the potential to overcome these barriers 12

Digital public infrastructure 12

Artificial intelligence 15

Three urgent action recommendations so three billion adults can drive growth 17

1. Bridge regulatory silos for DPI and AI governance to focus on inclusive growth 17

2. Update and enforce responsible regulations to protect new customers, with regional learning 17

3. Create national financial service providers codes of conduct to build consumer trust 18

Conclusion 19

About the author 19

Appendix: Roundtable participants (by meeting date) 20

Endnotes 21