Financial Inclusion in Turkey: Evidence from Individual Level Data

Öz Using individual level data from the World Bank Global Findex for 2017, this study analyzes the level of financial inclusion and explores its main determinants in Turkey. In particular, it explores how individual characteristics (i.e. gender, age, income, education) are associated with the usage of formal financial services and impinge on the perceived barriers to account ownership among financially excluded individuals in Turkey. The results of the study indicate that being man, older, richer and more educated increases the likelihood of having a formal account and formal saving. Moreover, mobile banking is found to be driven by identical individual characteristics with that of other traditional formal financial services usage. As regards with the main obstacles for not having a formal account, each one of the individual attributes seems to be significant in explaining different voluntary and involuntary self-reported barriers behind financial exclusion. The findings are of remarkable importance for designing policies to promote financial inclusion in Turkey

___

Referans 1 Allen, Franklin, Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Maria Soledad Martinez Peria (2016), “The Foundations of Financial Inclusion: Understanding Ownership and Use of Formal Accounts”, Journal of Financial Intermediation, 27: 1–30.