The Central Bank of Brazil released its Financial Citizenship Report 2025 and, in a 13 April LiveBC broadcast, senior officials outlined its main findings on financial citizenship in Brazil, with a focus on low-income groups and a new cut of credit use by gender and race. The report is framed around four pillars of financial citizenship and adds a global discussion on financial well-being aligned with agendas referenced by the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Officials highlighted that Brazil has reached 96% of the adult population with a bank account, attributing the advance to long-term public policies and technological innovation, including Pix, which they said broadened effective account use and brought previously excluded users into the system. They pointed to a “last mile” challenge involving the remaining 4% without relationships with financial institutions and inactive users, mainly men, older people, and residents in the North and Northeast, alongside a renewed focus on the quality of inclusion through education and consumer protection. The report also flags credit quality concerns: while access has expanded to 117 million people with active credit operations, around 53 million use high-interest products such as revolving credit card balances and interest-bearing instalments. For the first time, the report analyses credit by gender and race, indicating differences in credit composition and observed interest rates, including heavier use of high-cost card credit among women and particularly among Black women, who were described as paying the highest interest rates overall despite being the highest users of lower-rate productive microcredit lines. It also covers over-indebtedness and the growth of scams, reinforcing the need for ongoing protection, supervision and financial education, including education delivered by financial institutions to their customers.
Central Bank of Brazil 2026-04-22
Central Bank of Brazil’s Financial Citizenship Report 2025 shows 96% of adults banked and maps credit use by gender and race
The Central Bank of Brazil’s Financial Citizenship Report 2025 highlights near-universal account ownership at 96% of adults but identifies a “last mile” inclusion challenge among remaining unbanked and inactive users, and a need to improve inclusion quality through education and consumer protection. It flags credit risks, with 53 million of 117 million borrowers using high-interest products, and presents gender and race-based analysis showing heavier use of costly card credit and higher interest rates for women, particularly Black women, despite greater use of lower-rate productive microcredit. It also notes rising over-indebtedness and scams, underscoring the importance of continued protection, supervision and financial education.