How do consumers define prosperity?

November 6, 2019

Individual’s in high-growth markets typically link prosperity to financial security and peace of mind rather than current income and wealth, according to study from payments company PayU.

The company found three quarters of people in high-growth markets do not identify wealth and income as the key driving force of prosperity. Instead, three quarters of people that have a below-average income for their country consider themselves prosperous.

Ensuring a good future seemed to be the top drivers for prosperity, with people indicating being happy with your life, good health for your friends and family, having a stable job and enough savings for the future were the key to success.

Just one quarter of people in high-growth markets consider wealth as the main indicator of prosperity. This figure increases to 36% in the Middle East and Africa and dropping down to 9% in Latin America.

The Financial Prosperity Barometer: Perceptions of prosperity in high-growth markets report was a study of more than 10,000 consumers. Six in ten people to be interviewed stated they felt financial services helped them become more prosperous and nine in ten were able to recognise the benefits of financial services from depositing and transferring money to making savings.

Additionally, PayU’s report claimed people found it easier to identify the emotional benefits of financial services than the practical benefits. An example given is, 99.5% of people could see the benefit of saving money for peace of mind but only 97.9% could see the point of panning for the future.

While nine in ten people said they had access to at least one financial servce, three quarters of people felt their governments should do more to improve access.

PayU CEO Laurent le Moal said, “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.”