Financial Inclusion 2020 is no longer active. This is an archive page of a past CFI program.
While financial inclusion is seen as a policy goal, a coherent “movement” in that direction remained elusive for a number of reasons: the diverse range of actors who need to be involved, understanding the financial needs of the underserved, and the changing opportunities technology presents, to name only a few. FI2020 spearheaded a movement and shared roadmap for action that mobilized stakeholders around the globe to achieve full financial inclusion.

Report

This study – produced in partnership with the Institute of International Finance - examines the underreported role of banks in driving financial inclusion. Of the 3.2 billion people in the world with financial transaction accounts, 97 percent hold an account at a financial institution. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex database, over 90 percent of the 721 million new accounts opened between 2011 and 2014 were opened at financial institutions—the vast majority banks, but also including credit unions, cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and postal banks. Banks are playing a leading role in providing and extending financial services to underserved populations. Thanks to advances in technology, banks are also increasingly designing viable business models to serve unbanked and underbanked populations, which Accenture has estimated as a $380 billion market opportunity.

<img style="margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto" src="storage/2_BanksLeadGlobalIncrease.png" alt="2 BanksLeadGlobalIncrease" width="540" height="375" />

To better understand the strategies enabling this growth, and to help banks, their partners, and the public sector work together to reach the next 2 billion, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) interviewed executives from 24 leading banks working in emerging markets to understand their business strategies, how technology and partnerships can enable inclusion, and where they see obstacles going forward.
<h2>Banks’ Top Opportunities in Financial Inclusion</h2>
1. Build on digital payments, including:
a. G2P - procurement, payroll, social transfers, pensions, etc.
b. Private sector - retailers, consumer goods companies, payroll, etc.
2. Start with the underbanked and use data to understand their needs.
3. Cross-sell the full range of products.
4. Address the usage gap by building financial capability.
5. Develop the ecosystem through bank-led partnerships, increasing customer convenience while sharing costs and risk.
6. Enable remote account opening using digital IDs, supported by proportional, tiered KYC requirements.
7. Align all systems to digital banking, benefiting banked, underbanked and unbanked customers.

<h2>Banks’ Top Barriers to Financial Inclusion</h2>
1. Lack of trust - in banks, in digital, in agents - leading to lack of uptake.
2. Lack of financial capability and digital literacy - leading to lack of usage.
3. Agent networks - building them, equipping them, ensuring their quality.
4. Data - privacy, security, cost, lack of capacity to analyze the data, lack of willingness for parties to share data, and regulations around these issues.
5. Regulatory issues, especially pricing, capacity, and KYC requirements.
6. Lack of coordination among government bodies.
7. Lack of connectivity/infrastructure.

<h3><a class="wf_file" href="storage/documents/IIF_CFI_Report_FINAL.pdf">Download the Publication here »</a></h3>
<h3><a class="wf_file" href="storage/documents/IIF2FCFI_Executive_Summary_1.pdf">Download the Executive Summary here »</a></h3>
<h3><a class="wf_file" href="storage/documents/Fact_Sheet_for_IIF_paper_SHC_2.pdf">Download the Fact Sheet here »</a>
<a class="wf_file" href="storage/documents/IIF2FCFI_Executive_Summary_1.pdf">
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The Business of Financial Inclusion: Insights from Banks in Emerging Markets

Financial Capability Building Practices in Mexico

Financial Capability Building Practices in India

A Change in Behavior: Catalogue of Innovations in Financial Capability

This report—funded by JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co and produced by the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion—assesses the global landscape of financial capability innovations, with special focus on India and Mexico. Highlighting a trend in its early stages, it explores how organizations are tying financial capability interventions more closely to customer behavior, especially at critical decision-making moments, such as when signing up for and using financial products. Expansion of this approach, which is growing, will require creative ideas beyond the traditional financial education that still dominates the scene, and greater involvement by providers, who are uniquely placed to meet clients at critical decision moments.

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A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability, FAQs

Publications

Citi Foundation

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Mastercard

MetLife Foundation

Partners

A movement and a roadmap to mobilized stakeholders around the globe to achieve full financial inclusion

Susy Cheston

Elisabeth Rhyne

Examining the role banks play in driving financial inclusion

Gabriela Zapata

Jayshree Venkatesan

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Financial Inclusion 2020

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