Indicator: 8.10.1

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0.a. Goal

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

0.b. Target

Target 8.10: Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

0.c. Indicator

Indicator 8.10.1: (a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) Number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults

0.d. Series

Applies to all series

0.e. Metadata update

2023-03-31

0.f. Related indicators

Not applicable

0.g. International organisations(s) responsible for global monitoring

International Monetary Fund (STAFI - Financial Access Survey Team)

1.a. Organisation

International Monetary Fund (STAFI - Financial Access Survey Team)

2.a. Definition and concepts

Definition:

The number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults

The number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults

Adult population refers to the total population in the reporting jurisdiction of individuals 15 years old and above

Concepts:

The number of commercial bank branches refers to the total number of commercial bank branches in the country reported annually by the central bank or the main financial regulator of the country to the Financial Access Survey (FAS). To make the indicator meaningful for cross-country comparison, the number of commercial bank branches is scaled per 100,000 adults.

The number of automated teller machines (ATMs), refers to the number of ATMs in the country for all types of financial institutions such as: commercial banks, non-deposit taking microfinance institutions, deposit taking micro finance institutions, credit unions and credit cooperatives, and other deposit takers. This information is reported annually by the central bank or the main financial regulator of the country to the FAS. To make the indicator meaningful for cross-country comparison, the number of ATMs is scaled per 100,000 adults.

2.b. Unit of measure

Per 100,000 adults

2.c. Classifications

Not applicable

3.a. Data sources

The indicators in the Financial Access Survey (FAS) database are collected on an annual basis since 2009, covering the period since 2004. Information is collected from central banks or other main financial regulators for 189 jurisdictions.

All data and metadata are available free of charge to the public on the IMF’s FAS website, along with other key documents.

3.b. Data collection method

Every year, the Financial Access Survey (FAS) Team reaches out to FAS respondents to initiate the annual survey process. Data are compiled by countries and sent to the IMF through the Integrated Collection System (ICS) or National Summary Data Page (NSDP), which allows for a secure submission of country information.

3.c. Data collection calendar

The data collection round is launched around end-March every year; collection occurs on an annual basis.

3.d. Data release calendar

The Financial Access Survey (FAS) data are publicly disseminated on a rolling basis as soon as submissions are reviewed and validated by the FAS Team, with complete dissemination at end-September each year. Submissions that have passed through the validation process are made available on the FAS website on the following Monday after successful validation.

3.e. Data providers

Central banks or other financial regulators.

3.f. Data compilers

International Monetary Fund.

3.g. Institutional mandate

Not applicable

4.a. Rationale

Access to and use of formal financial services is essential. Services such as savings, insurance, payments, credit and remittances allow people to manage their lives, plan and pay expenses, grow their businesses and improve their overall welfare. As banks remain one of the key institutions for access to formal financial services, having an accessible bank branch is an important initial point of access to financial services and therefore use of them. Bank branches are complemented by other important points of access such as automated teller machines of all formal financial institutions, which can extend financial services to remote locations.

4.b. Comment and limitations

Since 2009, the Financial Access Survey (FAS) collects information from administrative sources on an annual basis. The central bank or the main financial regulator reports yearly information including the two indicators that are part of the SDGs. Since its launch, 189 economies have contributed to the FAS, which now contains more than 100 series on financial inclusion covering the period since 2004.

4.c. Method of computation

The indicators are calculated based on data collected directly from the central bank or the main financial regulator in the country. The formula to obtain these indicators are:

$\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{n}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{b}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{o}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{c}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{b}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{k}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{b}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }100,000\mathrm{\ }{\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}}_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}=\mathrm{\ }\frac{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{b}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{o}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{c}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{b}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{k}\mathrm{\ }{\mathrm{b}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}}_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{\ }}{\frac{\mathrm{A}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{\ }{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}}_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}}{100,000}}$

$\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{n}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{b}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{o}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{a}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{\ }\left(\mathrm{A}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{M}\mathrm{s}\right)\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }100,000\mathrm{\ }{\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}}_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}=\mathrm{\ }\frac{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{b}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{o}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{a}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{\ }\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{\ }{\left(\mathrm{A}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{M}\mathrm{s}\right)}_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}\mathrm{\ }}{\mathrm{\ }\frac{\mathrm{A}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{\ }{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}}_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}}{100,000}}$

Where “i” indicates the country and “t” indicates the year. The source of information for the number of commercial bank branches and the number of ATMs is the Financial Access Survey (FAS), while the source of information for the adult population is the World Development Indicators or the World Factbook.

4.d. Validation

The Financial Access Survey (FAS) questionnaire has built-in consistency checks to help data reporters spot inconsistencies in data reporting. Once the data is reported to the FAS, it undergoes a round of automated validation checks. If any inconsistency is detected, the FAS Team engages with the country authorities for clarifications or adjustments to the data provided. In case a country needs to add additional relevant information pertinent to the data reported, they can do so through the metadata portal in Integrated Collection System (ICS).

Every year, submissions are disseminated on the FAS website (data.imf.org/fas) on a rolling basis as soon as they are reviewed and validated.

4.e. Adjustments

Data are taken from the World Bank's World Development Indicators database and the World Factbook. In cases where data for the most recent period are not available, data for the previous period is used.

4.f. Treatment of missing values (i) at country level and (ii) at regional level

• At country level

Missing values are registered as empty. “n/a” are used when the country indicates that those services or institutions do not exist in the country, or alternatively, do not fall under the supervisory scope of a regulatory agency.

• At regional and global levels

“n/a” are used when the country indicates that those services or institutions do not exist in the country, or alternatively, do not fall under the supervisory scope of a regulatory agency. Trend extrapolation is used for countries that have not reported the latest data.

4.g. Regional aggregations

Country level: information provided by the authorities, recalculated as number of access points per 100,000 adults. For regional values, the Financial Access Survey (FAS) aggregates information of all countries and uses country’s adult population as weights.

4.h. Methods and guidance available to countries for the compilation of the data at the national level

Information collected by the Financial Access Survey (FAS) relies on the “FAS Guidelines and Manual”, which is published every year in English, Spanish and French. To foster the use of a common methodology, the definitions of financial institutional units and instruments covered in the FAS are primarily based on the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide (https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Data/Guides/mfsmcg-final.ashx). The FAS also publishes a Glossary for FAS indicators.

All these documents can be found in FAS website - documents.

4.i. Quality management

The Financial Access Survey (FAS) questionnaire has built-in consistency checks to help data reporters spot inconsistencies in data reporting. Once the data is reported to the FAS, it undergoes a round of automated validation checks and careful review by the FAS team. The analytical work on the reported data also aids spotting and correcting inconsistencies in the data, if any.

4.j. Quality assurance

The Financial Access Survey (FAS) data are collected through the Integrated Collection System (ICS) or the National Summary Data Page (NSDP), which allows for a secure submission of country information. Data submitted by countries are received internally in a system that facilitates the validation process conducted by the FAS Team.

Each submission is carefully reviewed, and when necessary, the FAS Team engages with the country authorities for clarifications or adjustments to the data provided. In case a country needs to add additional relevant information pertinent to the data reported, they can do so through the metadata portal in ICS.

4.k. Quality assessment

The Financial Access Survey (FAS) is a supply-side database with data reported from central banks and other financial regulators sourced from administrative data. Supply-side data tend to be more accurate than demand-side surveys. Furthermore, any deviations from the FAS methodology or fluctuations are reported by the country in the metadata, which is available on the FAS data portal.

5. Data availability and disaggregation

Data availability:

Covering 189 economies, the Financial Access Survey (FAS) provides a unique set of high-quality global supply side data. It contains 121 times series and 70 indicators that are expressed as ratios to GDP, land area, or adult population to facilitate cross-country comparisons.

Time series:

Since 2004; on an annual basis.

Disaggregation:

Data are provided at country level, by year. Aggregates are compiled by region in accordance with UN suggested regional aggregations.

6. Comparability/deviation from international standards

The Financial Access Survey (FAS) is a supply-side database based on administrative data from central banks or other main financial regulators. The data collection is centralized at the regulatory agency, which sources data from financial institutions and financial services providers for series for which data are available. The regulatory agency reports aggregates for the total economy to the FAS. The FAS provides country-level metadata that explain the institutional coverage of each reporting economy. Data from the FAS may differ from household-based surveys because of possible difference in coverage, scope, or concept definitions.

7. References and Documentation

URL:

http://data.imf.org/fas