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

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

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

Institutional information

Organization(s):

International Monetary Fund (STAFI - Financial Access Survey Team)

Concepts and definitions

Definition:

The number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults

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

Concepts:

The number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults refers to the number of commercial banks branches at end-year reported by the Central Bank or the main financial regulator of the country. To make the indicator meaningful for cross-country comparison, the number of commercial banks branches is scaled per 100,00 adults.

The number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults, 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 union and financial cooperatives, among other. This information is reported every year by the Central Bank or the main financial regulator of the country. To make the indicator meaningful for cross-country comparison, the number of ATMs is scaled per 100,00 adults.

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.

Comments 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 2004-2018.

Methodology

Computation method:

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:

The number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adultsit

= Number of commercial bank branchesit/(Adult populationit/100,000)

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

= Number of automated teller machines (ATMs)it/(Adult populationit/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 FAS, while the source of information for the adult population is the World Development Indicators.

Treatment of missing values:

  • 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 for 2018.

Regional aggregates:

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

Sources of discrepancies:

The FAS is an administrative source survey, with information 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 in the FAS survey. The FAS survey provides country-level metadata that explain the institutional coverage of each reporting economy. Data from the FAS survey may differ from household-based surveys because of possible difference in coverage, scope, or concept definitions.

Methods and guidance available to countries for the compilation of the data at the national level:

  • Information collected by the 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 (http://imf.org/). The FAS also publishes a Glossary for FAS indicators.
  • All these documents can be found in FAS website - documents.

Quality assurance:

  • FAS data are collected through the Integrated Collection System (ICS) 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.

Data sources

Description:

The indicators in the FAS database are collected on an annual basis since 2009, covering the period 2004-2018. Information is collected from Central Banks or other main financial regulators for 189 countries.

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

Collection process:

Every year, the 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 ICS which allows for a secure submission of country information. Data are processed and validated 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.

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

Data availability

Description:

Covering 189 economies, the FAS provides a unique set of high-quality global supply side data. It contains 121 times series and 64 indicators that are expressed as ratios to GDP, land area, or adult population to facilitate cross-country comparisons.

Time series:

2004-2018; 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.

Calendar

Data collection:

The 2020 data collection round will be launched around end-March 2020; collection occurs on an annual basis.

Data release:

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 in the FAS website on the following Monday after completion.

Data providers

Central Banks or other financial regulators.

Data compilers

International Monetary Fund.

References

URL:

http://data.imf.org/fas

References:

FAS website:

http://data.imf.org/fas