Access to financial services, such as bank accounts, credit, cryptocurrency, and insurance, allows people to save, invest, and manage resources, leading to improved income levels and reduced poverty. Financial inclusion, however, varies greatly across the globe. To better understand the relationship between financial inclusion and economic inequalities across and within well-developed, developing, and under-developed countries, Farris Khan worked on an independent study with Professor Hamil-Luker over the summer of 2024. Khan analyzed data from the 2021 Global Findex Database. This World Bank dataset tracks how 144,000 adults in 139 countries use financial services and includes both individual- and country-level characteristics.
Khan identified significant disparities in financial inclusion across levels of country development, as measured by gross national product per capita. While 96% of adults in well-developed countries had bank accounts, only 58% of those in developing and 32% of those in under-developed countries did so. The relationship between household income and financial inclusion was highest in developed countries, indicating more equitable access to financial services in developing and under-developed countries. Khan’s findings highlight the need for targeted policies and interventions to enhance financial access, particularly in less developed regions.
Khan is graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, concentrating in the Sociology of Work and Organizations, and a Markets and Management Certificate in September 2024. He works as a financial analyst at New York-based FocusPoint Private Capital Group.
