How Mobile Money and Digital Payments Fill Banking Gaps Across Continents

Introduction

The financial infrastructure that people use for everyday payments, savings, and borrowing looks radically different depending on where in the world they live. In some economies, almost every adult has a bank account and uses it for digital payments. In others, fewer than half the population is formally banked, and mobile money — not a traditional bank — provides the primary financial gateway.

The six nations co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup — Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay — illustrate the full spectrum of financial development. This article explains how these different financial systems work and what they mean for consumers and visitors.

What financial inclusion actually measures

Financial inclusion is typically measured by the share of adults (age 15+) who have an account at a bank, credit union, or mobile money provider. Having an account is the gateway to other financial services: making and receiving payments, saving, borrowing, and insuring against risk.

The World Bank Global Findex survey, conducted every few years, tracks these metrics across more than 140 economies. The latest waves (2021 and 2024) show that while account ownership has risen globally, enormous gaps remain between high-income and developing economies.

For a deeper look at what account ownership means in practice, see our explainer on bank account ownership explained.

The three financial archetypes across host nations

The six World Cup 2030 hosts fall into three distinct financial archetypes:

The bank-dominated model (Spain and Portugal)

In high-income European economies like Spain (98.4% account ownership) and Portugal (91.4%), financial inclusion is essentially universal. Nearly every adult has a bank account, and most use it for digital payments:

Spain: 97.5% make or receive digital payments
Portugal: 90.6% make or receive digital payments
Debit cards are near-universal: 85.9% in Spain, 87.0% in Portugal
Credit cards are common: 56.6% in Spain

In these economies, mobile money — the phone-based wallets that have leapfrogged traditional banking elsewhere — plays almost no role because the existing banking infrastructure already provides universal access. If you visit Barcelona or Lisbon, you can expect to pay for everything with a contactless card or phone.

The mobile money leapfrog (Argentina and Paraguay)

In Argentina (81.7% account ownership) and Paraguay (60.9%), the story is more nuanced. While traditional bank account ownership has grown, mobile money accounts have become a major financial channel:

Argentina: 56.7% mobile money penetration — 10th highest globally
Paraguay: 35.9% mobile money penetration

Argentina’s high mobile money adoption is particularly striking. In a high-inflation environment (219.9% inflation in 2024), holding cash is costly — and mobile wallets and fintech apps have stepped in. Many Argentinians use digital wallets for daily transactions, even if they don’t have a traditional bank account. This represents the “leapfrog” pattern where mobile-first financial services fill gaps left by traditional banking. For more, see our article on how mobile money bridges financial inclusion.

The under-banked model (Morocco)

Morocco (44.4% account ownership) is the least banked host by a wide margin. Unlike many other developing economies — particularly in sub-Saharan Africa — mobile money has not stepped in to fill the gap:

Morocco: only 5.9% mobile money penetration
Credit card ownership: 0.6%
Debit card ownership: 27.2%
Online purchases: 7.9%

Morocco’s financial inclusion challenge is structural. While the country has a well-developed banking sector in urban areas, rural access remains limited. The slow adoption of mobile money — compared to, say, Kenya or Ghana — reflects differences in regulation, telecommunications infrastructure, and the role of remittance corridors. Morocco does receive large remittance inflows ($12.5 billion, 15th globally), but most of these flow through traditional bank channels rather than mobile money.

For more context on how Morocco compares to other under-banked economies, see our article on inside the lowest account ownership countries.

The middle ground (Uruguay)

Uruguay (73.7% account ownership) sits between the extremes. It has a relatively high banking penetration for Latin America, with 72.3% debit card ownership and 36.6% credit card ownership. Its digital payment adoption rate (68.0%) is solid but below the near-universal levels of Europe. Uruguay’s banking sector is also notably healthy, with the lowest nonperforming loan ratio among the hosts at 1.7%.

How payment methods differ for consumers

The practical consequence of these differences is that a travelling fan will need to adapt their payment strategy depending on which host country they visit:

In Spain and Portugal: Contactless debit and credit cards, mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), and bank transfers work everywhere. Carrying significant cash is unnecessary.

In Argentina and Uruguay: Cards and digital wallets are widely accepted in cities, but cash is still important in smaller establishments. Mobile money apps (particularly in Argentina) are common for local peer-to-peer payments.

In Paraguay: Cards are accepted in urban areas but less so in rural locations. Mobile money is growing but not yet universal.

In Morocco: Cash remains king. Card acceptance is limited to hotels, larger restaurants, and tourist-facing businesses. For smaller merchants and in rural areas, cash is the only reliable option.

For a comparison of specific payment tools, see our articles on credit cards vs mobile money and banks vs mobile money account ownership.

Why these gaps matter for the tournament

A World Cup spanning three continents means millions of fans moving between vastly different financial ecosystems. Understanding these differences helps travellers plan ahead — whether that means getting enough local currency in Morocco, or relying on cards and phones in Spain.

For a detailed data comparison of all six hosts’ financial indicators, see our report on banking and payments across World Cup 2030 host nations.

For more on how financial systems develop differently across regions, see:

What the data cannot tell you

Two important caveats apply.

First, the Findex survey data comes from different waves for different metrics. Account ownership data is available from the 2024 wave for most countries, but digital payment adoption figures are still from 2021 for Spain, Portugal, and Uruguay. By 2030, these numbers will likely look different.

Second, national averages mask enormous within-country variation. A bank account or mobile money account in urban Buenos Aires or Casablanca does not mean the same thing as one in a remote village in Paraguay or the Moroccan Atlas Mountains. The data tells us about overall penetration, not about the quality, cost, or frequency of use of these financial services.

Sources & method

This report uses data from the World Bank Global Findex survey (2021 and 2024 waves), the world’s most comprehensive database on how adults around the world save, borrow, make payments, and manage financial risk. Banking sector data (nonperforming loans, capital adequacy) comes from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators.

All data reflects the latest available year for each country and metric. For more on our methodology, see our methodology page.