Who Holds Credit Cards and Bank Accounts in Uruguay? Evidence from Survey of Uruguayan Households Finances

In this paper we analyze households access to financial services such as credit cards and bank accounts. We use data available from the first stage of Survey of Uruguayan Households Finance (SUHF1) and ECH 2012. We estimate univariate and bivariate probit models for bank account and credit cards holdings. Evidence indicates that households' income, education level and working status are the main determinants of the probability of holding credit cards and bank accounts in Uruguay. In addition, we perform a counterfactual exercise which allows us to predict the effect of making compulsory to pay salaries through the financial system. Our prediction is that bank account and credit card holdings would increase at around 6 and 4 percentage points, respectively.