Financial literacy, financial decisions, and the demand for financial services

Why is demand for formal financial services low in emerging markets? One view argues that limited cognitive ability and financial literacy stifle demand. A second view argues that demand is rationally low, because formal financial services are expensive and of relatively low value to the poor. This paper uses original surveys and a field experiment to distinguish between two competing answers to this question. Using original survey data from India and Indonesia, we first show that financial literacy is a powerful predictor of demand for financial services. To test the relative importance of literacy and price, we implement a field experiment, offering randomly selected unbanked households financial literacy education, crossed with small financial incentives (ranging from US $3 to $14) to open bank savings accounts. We find that the financial literacy program has no effect on the likelihood of opening a bank savings account in the full sample, but do find modest effects for uneducated and financially illiterate households. In contrast, small subsidy payments have a large effect on the likelihood of opening a savings account. These payments are more than two times more cost-effective than the financial literacy training.