Where Settlement Money Can Land 2026
Introduction
YouTube TV agreed to pay eligible subscribers roughly $92 each in a settlement, and NFL+ subscribers demanded refunds after streaming errors during preseason Week 1. Both stories are about the same unglamorous machinery: getting money to people. A settlement payout, a refund, a rebate, a government transfer — all of it has to land somewhere. And the receiving rail is account ownership: the share of adults with an account at a financial institution or with a mobile money provider.
That rail varies enormously. In Iceland, 99.9% of adults have an account — a settlement check or direct deposit reaches nearly everyone. In South Sudan, just 5.8% do. This post ranks 145 economies on account ownership, the first question any payout faces.
The Data
The World Bank’s Global Findex defines account ownership as having an account at a bank or other financial institution, or a mobile money account, as an adult (15+). Here are the leaders and the laggards.
| Rank | Economy | Account ownership | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iceland | 99.9% | 2024 |
| 2 | Finland | 99.8% | 2024 |
| 3 | Austria | 99.5% | 2024 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 99.3% | 2024 |
| 5 | France | 99.2% | 2024 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 99.2% | 2024 |
| 7 | Lithuania | 99.0% | 2024 |
| 8 | Estonia | 98.9% | 2024 |
| 9 | Slovenia | 98.7% | 2024 |
| 10 | Denmark | 98.7% | 2024 |
| 11 | Sweden | 98.6% | 2024 |
| 12 | Norway | 98.6% | 2024 |
| 13 | Japan | 98.5% | 2024 |
| 14 | Switzerland | 98.4% | 2024 |
| 15 | Canada | 98.4% | 2024 |
| 16 | Spain | 98.4% | 2024 |
| 17 | Germany | 98.3% | 2024 |
| 18 | Ireland | 98.3% | 2024 |
| 25 | United States | 97.0% | 2024 |
| 38 | China | 89.4% | 2024 |
| 40 | India | 89.0% | 2024 |
| Rank | Economy | Account ownership | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 134 | Libya | 33.1% | 2024 |
| 135 | Iraq | 30.2% | 2024 |
| 136 | Mauritania | 27.3% | 2024 |
| 137 | Pakistan | 27.3% | 2024 |
| 138 | Madagascar | 24.5% | 2024 |
| 139 | Nicaragua | 23.5% | 2024 |
| 140 | Lebanon | 23.0% | 2024 |
| 141 | Chad | 20.9% | 2024 |
| 142 | Niger | 14.8% | 2024 |
| 143 | Yemen | 11.9% | 2022 |
| 144 | Afghanistan | 9.7% | 2021 |
| 145 | South Sudan | 5.8% | 2021 |
The spread is a factor of 17 between Iceland and South Sudan — and even the midpoint is far from universal: account ownership is below 50% in about a quarter of the 145 ranked economies.
Analysis
Two patterns stand out.
First, the receiving rail is not the same as the sending rail. Digital payment adoption — making or receiving a digital payment in the past year — is higher than account ownership in many places, because people can send through agents, wallets, and intermediaries. But a settlement or refund is an inbound transfer: it needs an account (or a mobile money wallet) to land in. For the distinction, see our explainer on what digital payment adoption means.
Second, mobile money is the alternate rail where banks are thin. The account ownership figure already includes mobile money accounts, which is why Kenya reaches 90.1% overall — driven by mobile money adoption of 87.5% (Kenya, 2024), the highest in the world. Ghana (81.2% overall) sits at 78.3% mobile money accounts, Zambia (72.7%) at 69.3%, and Senegal (76.5%) at 66.9%. In these economies, a refund would more plausibly arrive as mobile money than as a bank deposit. For the regional picture, see banks vs. mobile money account ownership and mobile money banking gaps across continents.
Context
Account ownership is the foundation of every other payout story FinStatGlobe covers: where salaries are paid digitally, how wage rails work across borders, and who receives remittances. It also matters for the form of a payout: with an account, a settlement can be a direct deposit; without one, it may be a check, cash, or an agent-mediated transfer — slower, costlier, and easier to lose. For the basics of what the indicator counts, see bank account ownership explained and our report on the state of financial inclusion 2026.
Sources & method
Figures come from the World Bank Global Findex (account ownership at a financial institution or mobile money provider, % of adults 15+, 2024 wave unless noted; 145 economies) and the Global Findex mobile money account indicator (87 economies). Data years vary by country wave (2021, 2022, or 2024) and are cited per row. See the methodology page for how FinStatGlobe builds its indicators.