Issue link: https://recursos.axway.com/i/1321495
38 Open Banking APIs State of the Market Report 2020 There are several consumer segments that have traditionally been under-served by the bank sector. These include low income consumers in low and middle income countries, but also low income consumers, including small businesses, in higher income countries. LOW INCOME CONSUMERS IN LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES This group of consumers have often been sidelined by banks and are presented with multiple hurdles to opening bank accounts. As a result, consumers have relied upon the telecommunications ("telcos") and payments aggregation industry players that have allowed consumers to store money in a digital account and transfer payments directly from this 'digital wallet' to save, pay for bills, top-up their mobile accounts, and shop online. 12 Indonesia, for example, is introducing open banking and open finance regulations that specifically aim to reduce financial exclusion. As regulations come into play, fintechs in Indonesia that are already serving unbanked populations, including in rural areas, are expected to expand. Indonesian banks are opening APIs to fintech to enable customers to open bank accounts and to use their digital wallet apps without transferring to a bank account app in order to make payments. APIs are also enabling customers without credit histories to use their account transaction data to demonstrate credit worthiness. 13 LOW INCOME CONSUMERS, INCLUDING SMALL BUSINESSES, IN HIGHER INCOME COUNTRIES This group of consumers have been unable to access credit or to utilize a wider range of banking services due to a lack of banking transactional history. There are an estimated 60 million unbanked consumers worldwide in high income countries. The United States, for example, has one of the lowest rates of bank account ownership amongst higher income countries, 16.3 million adults estimated to be unbanked. Japan is estimated to have 3.7 million adults, and France IS OPEN BANKING HELPING THE UNDERSERVED?