The Tracks Are Laid, Now We Need More Traffic

When designed and delivered responsibly, digital payments are a safer, more affordable and more efficient alternative to cash. Activating responsible digital payments for excluded groups – including women, youth and other marginalized populations – empowers them to transact and build financial records with accounts under their own names. In this way, digital payments catalyze financial inclusion, resilience and shared prosperity, and can boost women’s participation in the economy. In addition, according to UNDP, universal digital payment use could lift GDP by up to one-third and help 16 to 19 million small businesses qualify for credit.

The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) was established in 2012 to lead in accelerating the transition from cash to responsible digital payments, with the ultimate aim of scaling financial inclusion. Since then, the digital payments landscape has transformed significantly, bringing many more people into the formal financial system. But how far have we come exactly, and what still needs to be done?

Spreading digital rails

Data from the recently released World Bank Global Findex 2025 gives a glimpse into how well countries globally are transitioning from cash to digital payments. Between 2014 and 2024, mobile money accounts expanded from 2% to 15% of adults globally, and from 2.5% to 18% in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Across LMICs, 62% of adults made or received a digital payment in 2024, a 27-percentage point increase from 2014.

Digital rails - the underlying infrastructure and networks that enable payments - are spreading and being used around the world. 73% of government-to-person (G2P) recipients are now paid into accounts, and about 43% of adults in LMICs opened their first account to receive social protection support or a salary. Use of digital merchant payments – which are payments made by retail customers to businesses for goods and services - grew to 42% of all adults in 2024, up from 35% in 2021.

Digital payment usage gaps remain

Progress has undoubtedly been made, yet 1.3 billion adults remain unbanked and millions of accounts lie dormant because formal finance doesn’t meet account holders’ needs. While digital payment usage has increased, nearly six in ten people still pay only with cash in LMICs, and in some regions this portion is much higher. In South Asia, only 15% of adults report making digital merchant payments, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 20%. In the agriculture sector, about one in four recipients who sold crops or livestock received the payment into an account, keeping millions dependent on cash. Cash also continues to dominate payroll, with only about 45% of private-sector wage recipients paid into an account, leaving 55% paid in cash.

The latest Findex data reveals three important gaps:  

1. Gender: Women are 8 percentage points less likely than men to use digital payments in LMICs, with higher gaps in some regions and countries. In South Asia, the digital payment gender gap is 15 percentage points, in the Middle East and North Africa it is 12 percentage points, and in Sub-Saharan Africa 11 points.
2. Income levels predict exclusion. Only 32% of low-income wage earners are paid into an account, 20 percentage points behind higher-income earners.
3. Usage: While 75% of adults in LMICs hold an account, only 62% used it to make or receive a digital payment last year, leaving a 13-point usage gap which keeps cash payments dominant.
    

Decisive action into 2030 

To ensure the 1.3 billion still excluded today can benefit from financial services, all government and businesses need to lead by example, activating and promoting the usage of responsible digital payments within their programs and value chains.  The Better Than Cash Alliance continues to support its member governments and businesses through this transition, guided by the UN Principles for Responsible Digital Payments. Advancing financial inclusion will require investment in inclusive digital public infrastructure - particularly making digital merchant payments widely available- alongside enabling policies that address barriers to digital payment usage for women, youth, MSMEs and other marginalized groups.

By 2030, digital finance can be mainstreamed and near universal in everyday use, but only if we act decisively to make sure most payments are made through trusted, interoperable rails. To achieve this, we need to ensure:

• Governments and businesses promote responsible digital payments directly into women’s own accounts. Across LMICs, 43% of adults who have an account opened it to receive a government social benefit or wage payment.  By intentionally promoting digital payments for these types of transfers, we can drive equitable access for the still excluded 1.3 billion people, most of whom are women and youth. For instance, Alliance members from the private sector - Gap Inc. and H&M Group’s Tier-1 suppliers - now pay 85% of their workers digitally, demonstrating what can be achieved with concerted public-private partnership and leadership.
• Ubiquitous interoperable merchant payment usage. Digitizing payments for utilities, everyday spending sectors (such as food, retail and transport) and cross-border merchant payments can motivate significantly more people to go digital. As people and businesses shift to digitally managed cashflows, access to finance, savings and insurance becomes simplified and can help build resilience.
• Trusted and beneficial digital financial services. Key to achieving universal digital payment use is making sure that systems are trustworthy and provide added value to users. The UN Principles for Responsible Digital Payments – which include fee transparency, instant recourse, interoperability and customer-centric product design, among others – were created to guide the sector in that direction. At BTCA, we collaborate with governments and businesses to co-create a Responsible Payments roadmap for implementing these principles through peer learning, training and advisory services - so responsible practice becomes the default.

The financial inclusion rails and tracks are laid; now we need to ensure they are fully utilized through traffic that comes from universal usage. To drive traffic, governments can lead by example, making and receiving all their payments digitally and setting policy signals, procurement standards, and responsible-usage requirements that make digital the default across public services and value chains. Such progress will require interoperable payment platforms that give citizens more opportunities and freedom to choose the financial service providers that meet their needs. The choices governments make now will determine whether digital finance becomes a track that everyone can travel by 2030, or a fast lane used by only a few.