16:23 - 14.06.2023

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June 14, Fineko/abc.az. The World Bank's Fintex indicator for Azerbaijan shows that the number of bank account holders in the country has increased. A few years ago, this figure was 30 percent, and now it has reached 50 percent. Digital payments have increased in Azerbaijan, a lot of work has been done on non-cash payments.

ABC.AZ reports that WB country manager in Azerbaijan, Sarah Michael, speaking at the panel discussion of conference "Towards 2030: Socio-Economic Inclusivity in Azerbaijan" within the UN initiative "SDG Dialogues".

She said that, along with this, this indicator is low in the regions. There is also a gender difference. Most bank accounts belong to men. Another problem relates to deposits, since only 10 percent of deposits are stored in banks.

500,000 employees in Azerbaijan do not have bank accounts, it is important for them to open bank accounts. In addition, 200,000 people in Azerbaijan still pay utility bills in cash. The government implements incentive mechanisms, such as VAT refund. Such steps can increase financial inclusion.

"When speech to the population in the regions, we see that they believe that opening a bank account requires costs. Therefore, we need to conduct campaigning and improve financial literacy in the regions. Another problem relates to people's trust in banks. People don't trust banks, so they don't open bank accounts. We are working with the population in this direction as well," Michael added.