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PayU’s Financial Prosperity Barometer explores definitions of prosperity and access to financial services in emerging markets. Our team surveyed over 10,000 adult respondents across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East.
Over 75% of respondents believe that financial services can help people plan for future prosperity.
60% of respondents feel financial services have already helped them to become more prosperous.
50% of people surveyed believe you cannot be prosperous without access to financial services.
For over 30% of respondents ‘good health for friends and family’ is key for prosperity.
Only 25% of respondents feel that ‘being wealthy’ in itself is necessary for prosperity.
Nearly one in ten respondents declare that they don’t have access to any major financial service.
We found that prosperity isn’t directly linked with monetary income in high-growth markets. Instead, the most popular factors were:
• Being happy with your life
• Good health for friends and family
• Having a good, stable job
• Having enough savings for the future
Access to financial services is not equal. Nearly one in ten (9%) don’t have access to any major financial service. Three quarters of all respondents think that their governments should be doing more to improve access.
The regions with the highest perceived access, Asia and Africa/Israel, are the ones that agree most with this call to action, showing 80% or above want more action from their governments.
Financial services and prosperity are clearly linked. Respondents who considered themselves most prosperous were the most likely to see how financial services have helped them to achieve this prosperity.
People who felt the least prosperous also claimed the lowest access to financial services, with nearly one in five stating a lack of access to any major service.
Financial services with easily identifiable emotional benefits are more clearly linked with prosperity.
Security and peace of mind are perceived as the primary benefits of almost every financial service. Over half of respondents felt that having savings in case of hard times or emergency was the benefit of having the ability to save and grow money.
What did the 10,000 people we surveyed say?
Explore our global resources hub for more insights on fintech, financial inclusion, and e-commerce in emerging markets.
Visit resource hub