Peculiarities of Digitalization of Financial Services Among Countries by Income Groups: Conclusions for Ukraine

Abstract

The article reveals the features of digitalization in the context of groups of countries by income level. The main channels of digitalization impact on the financial market and economic growth are highlighted. It is established that the combination of digitalization of financial depth and financial inclusion and the effectiveness of monetary policy stimulates economic growth. Comparison of 3 groups of indicators identical in economic value but with different impacts of digitalization (availability of an account – availability of a mobile account, availability of borrowings – availability of mobile borrowings, availability of savings – availability of mobile savings) and the indicator of electronic payments made it possible to generalize that digitalization does not significantly affect the stimulation of credit inclusion, but stimulates the expansion of access to banking operations: opening an account, making/receiving transfers and savings. Given the high level of financial inclusion in high-income countries, digitalization of financial services was also noted before the digitalization of financial services, digitalization only simplifies access to accounts and payments, but does not expand it (in particular, among high-income countries, the share of the population with open accounts in financial institutions is more than 96% in 2021). It is determined that digitalization can partially resolve the problem of low confidence in financial institutions. Thus, for the period from 2017 to 2021, the share of the population with mobile accounts in low-income countries exceeded the share of the population with accounts in formal financial institutions. It was noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery have become an additional incentive to deepen the digitalization of financial services, as they have necessitated the expansion of remote communication channels and customer service for financial institutions. It is emphasized that the growth in the prevalence of electronic payments in the world as a whole is due to their ease of use for cross-border payments on global online trading platforms and the expansion of remote payments in the context of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trends of digitalization of financial services in Ukraine are summarized. The domestic level of prevalence of accounts in financial institutions and electronic payments among the population corresponds to the level of countries with an income level above the average. The need for financial deepening is emphasized, both from the point of view of the banks' resource banking (stimulating the transfer of savings to the financial sector and thus launching the economic cycle) and from the point of view of lending to the real sector. The advantage of digitalization in the conditions of martial law was highlighted, when due to the high level of financial services coverage it was possible to ensure payments – against the background of the complication of the state's financial obligations to citizens and the risks of the country's payment system.