In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Modern financial management is largely about risk management, which is increasingly data-driven. The problem is how to extract information from the data overload. It is here that advanced statistical and machine learning techniques can help. Accordingly, finance, statistics, and data analytics go hand in hand. The purpose of this book is to bring the state-of-art research in these three areas to the fore and especially research that juxtaposes these three.

The Truth Shall Set Your Wallet Free is aimed at debunking the myths that prevent people from achieving their wealth goals. And the first myth that needs to be bashed is that financial advisors are only for the very rich. In fact, there are more financial advisors who cater to modest-income Americans than those who cater to the rich. Myths propagated by the media, regulators, and even the financial industry itself harm every American, from those at the poverty level to billionaires and everyone in between. This is the first time a holistic view of the entire advice market has been written by a non-advisor industry insider, without bias from any of the financial services sectors.