Youth Savings Patterns and Performance: Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal

This report presents two-year findings from a study that tracks account uptake and savings patterns and performance in youth savings accounts in four countries: Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal. It enquires into whether youth in developing countries participate, save, and accumulate assets if offered an opportunity to save through formal financial services. The report also examines how product design and financial institutions’ participation in financial education and financial services may affect account uptake and savings performance. The study for the report was conducted by YouthSave, an initiative that seeks to investigate the potential of savings accounts as a tool for youth development and financial inclusion in developing countries. Key findings include:

• Youth will open savings accounts if financial institutions make safe and affordable accounts available;
• Youth will save in the accounts as evidenced by the USD 1.8 million saved across the four countries;
• Female youth save as much and sometimes more than male youth;
• When parents are the co-signatory, youth save significantly more and 84% of youth indicate that savings are likely to come from family;
• Direct outreach from financial institutions to locations where youth congregate facilitates overall account uptake;
• Financial institution policies influence the number of accounts opened.