Last month we published a report revealing that half the world is unbanked: the tally counted 2.5 billion adults worldwide without a checking or savings account. Others have attempted this count in the past, but the margin of error has been large (plus or minus a half a billion). We thought it was time to try for a more exact estimate given how key the target is for policymakers.

In his useful assessment of microinsurance schemes, Paul Mosley proposes the idea of “quasi-insurance” – the provision of risk-protection through non-insurance routes such as loans and savings in markets where microinsurance is lacking or insufficient.