Unbanked refers to adults who do not hold an account at a bank, credit union, or regulated financial institution — and do not use a mobile money provider. They rely entirely on cash for daily transactions and have no formal mechanism to save, borrow, or receive digital payments. An estimated 1.4 billion adults worldwide fall into this category, the majority in low- and middle-income countries.
The unbanked population is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America. According to the World Bank's Global Findex database, the most common reasons people cite are: not having enough money to meet minimum balance requirements (cited by 65% of unbanked adults), distance from a branch, lack of documentation (ID, proof of address), distrust of financial institutions, and religious objections to interest-bearing products. Women are disproportionately represented — they make up 55% of the global unbanked population. In Nigeria, roughly 38% of adults are unbanked; in Pakistan, around 79%.
International remittances flow heavily to countries with large unbanked populations. If your recipient does not have a bank account, traditional wire transfers and fintech services like Wise cannot reach them — these providers deposit funds into a bank account at the destination. This forces senders into cash pickup networks (Western Union, MoneyGram agents) which typically charge 5-8% in fees versus 0.5-2% for bank deposits. For families receiving money in rural India, rural Philippines, or West Africa, the last mile to a bank branch can be an additional barrier on top of fees.
Mobile money accounts — like M-Pesa in Kenya, GCash in the Philippines, and bKash in Bangladesh — allow unbanked adults to store, send, and receive money using a basic mobile phone without a bank account. The World Bank estimates mobile money has reduced the unbanked population by hundreds of millions since 2011. Several remittance providers now support mobile money as the payout method, including Wise (via partners in Kenya and Tanzania), Remitly, and WorldRemit. Mobile money payout often reaches recipients faster than cash pickup and with lower fees.
Cryptocurrency-based remittance rails can reduce costs dramatically — often to under 1% all-in — but the last-mile problem remains: to convert USDC or USDT back into local cash, the recipient typically needs an account with a local crypto exchange or mobile money provider. Exchanges like CoinDCX (India), Luno (Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa), and Bitso (Mexico) handle local cash-out but require identity verification and a smartphone. Fully trustless crypto delivery to an unbanked cash recipient is not yet practical at scale. The most promising route remains: crypto rails for the international transfer, mobile money for local disbursement.
Unbanked adults have no account at a bank or mobile money provider at all. Underbanked adults have a bank account but still rely on alternative financial services — like check cashing, payday loans, or mobile money — for most transactions. Both groups face barriers to receiving traditional wire transfers.
Cash pickup networks (Western Union, MoneyGram) are the most widely available option — the recipient collects cash at a local agent. Mobile money (M-Pesa, GCash, bKash) is another route if the recipient has a registered mobile wallet. Both options are more expensive than bank-to-bank transfers but can reach people traditional fintech cannot.
Nigeria (NGN), Pakistan (PKR), and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa have among the highest rates of unbanked adults. The Philippines (PHP) and Mexico (MXN) have lower unbanked rates but large rural populations that depend on cash pickup. RemitRoutes shows cash pickup availability alongside bank deposit and crypto payout options for each corridor.
Crypto rails offer the lowest transfer fees, but the recipient still needs a way to convert digital assets into local cash — which typically requires an exchange account and identity verification. Mobile money payout combined with low-cost transfer services is often the most practical option for unbanked recipients today.
Traditional banks require minimum balances, government-issued ID, proof of address, and physical branch access — barriers that many low-income and rural adults cannot meet. Regulatory compliance costs also make small-balance accounts unprofitable for banks, reducing their incentive to serve this population.
Yes. The World Bank estimates the global unbanked population fell from 2.5 billion in 2011 to 1.4 billion in 2021, largely due to mobile money adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa and government-led financial inclusion programs in India and China. However, progress has been uneven, and gender gaps remain wide.
Compare live rates across 370+ corridors on RemitRoutes · methodology. Last updated 2026-02-27.