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Income and Wealth not the Driver for Prosperity in High-Growth Markets, Finds New Global Study

Three quarters think their government has a responsibility to improve access to financial services

Technology is at the very core of this mission and must be used at every stage of the journey to best deliver financial services to citizens globally

LONDON, United Kingdom, November 13, 2019/APO Group/ --

Three quarters of people with a below-average income for their country report feeling prosperous; Six in ten people across high-growth markets say access to financial services has helped improve their prosperity; Three quarters think their government has a responsibility to improve access to financial services.

A landmark study into the relationship between financial services and prosperity across high-growth markets around the world has revealed that people’s definition of prosperity is more linked to financial security and peace of mind than to current income and wealth.

The research by PayU (www.PayU.com), the fintech and e-payments division of Prosus - spun out from global technology investment giant Naspers - found that three quarters of people in high-growth markets do not identify wealth and income as a driving factor of prosperity. In fact, three quarters of people with a below-average income for their country report feeling prosperous. Instead, the top drivers for prosperity are being happy with your life, good health for your friends and family, having a good and stable job, and having enough savings for the future.

Only a quarter of people in high-growth markets view wealth as a top factor for prosperity, with this rising to 36% in the Middle East and Africa and dropping down to 9% in South America. Health united all high-growth regions, however, ranking as the top factor driving prosperity across Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe.

PayU’s Financial Prosperity Barometer: Perceptions of prosperity in high-growth markets found that access to financial services is key to people’s prosperity. The study of over 10,000 consumers revealed that six in ten people believe financial services have helped them become more prosperous. Nine in ten people were able to directly recognise the benefits of financial services, ranging from depositing money and transferring money to saving and growing their money.

According to the study, people find it easier to identify the emotional benefits of financial services than the practical benefits. For example, 99.5% of people were able to recognise an emotional benefit of saving money, such as peace of mind, compared to 97.9% who could see a practical benefit, such as being able to plan for the future.

Despite nine in ten people stating that they have access to at least one financial service, three quarters of people think that their government should be doing more to improve access. In regions self-reporting the highest access to one or more financial services, namely Asia and Middle East / Africa, people in fact showed a higher preference for their government to do more. 

Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU, commented on the findings: “Understanding how access to financial services impacts prosperity takes us to the heart of human behaviour and brings us one step closer to building a world without financial borders where everyone can prosper. Global fintech leaders and governments have a huge responsibility to build the right services to ensure each individual can access and utilise financial services to improve their own feelings of prosperity. Technology is at the very core of this mission and must be used at every stage of the journey to best deliver financial services to citizens globally.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of PayU.

Media Contact:
Laura McReynolds / Kitty Guillaume / Clare Collins
Email: payu@missive.co.uk
Tel: +447525 019074

Methodology:
To uncover the link between perceptions of prosperity and access to financial services across high-growth markets globally, we surveyed over 10,500 adult respondents across 18 countries within Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East, with an even split across gender and age.

The countries surveyed were: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Turkey, Israel, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, North India (New Delhi), West India (Mumbai), East India (Kolkata) and South India (Bengaluru).

About PayU:
PayU (www.PayU.com) is the leading online payment service provider in 18 high-growth markets, dedicated to creating a fast, simple and efficient payment process for merchants and buyers. Focused on empowering people through financial services and creating a world without financial borders where everyone can prosper, PayU is one of the biggest investors in the fintech space, with investments totalling $700 million to date.  

Our local operations in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa enable us to combine the expertise of high growth companies with our own unique local knowledge and technology to ensure that our customers have access to the best financial services. 

PayU supports over 300,000+ merchants and millions of consumers making payments online with over 250 payment methods and 1,800+ payment specialists. The markets in which PayU operates represent a potential consumer base of nearly 2.3 billion people and a huge growth potential for merchants. For more information please visit: www.PayU.com.