<p>Assessing the progress of financial inclusion</p>


Report

The World Bank's Global Findex is the most comprehensive database on how people access and use financial services in 150 countries across the world. In <em>Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality</em>, we examine the Findex data from our own perspective, seeking to deconstruct what it's telling us about financial inclusion progress.

This report spotlights key financial inclusion indicators, including account usage, borrowing, saving and resilience, among others, and takes an in-depth look at six countries that help tell the story of financial inclusion progress around the world. In short, we find that after correcting for account dormancy in developing countries, account growth has slowed, the access-usage gap is widening, credit is flat and savings is declining. A bright spot, however, is the proliferation in the use of digital payments.

The Findex analysis is sobering, but financial inclusion, while further away than expected, is still an achievable goal. We hope the financial inclusion community will use the 2017 Findex results to reconsider how financial inclusion initiatives are affecting usage, products and financial well-being, and to re-engage with eyes wide open as we continue pursuing the important tasks at hand.

Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality: Deconstructing the 2017 Findex Results

Citi Foundation

Global Findex

Access Usage Gap

Enabling Environment

Credit

Digital Financial Services

Delivery Channels

Resilience

Financial Health

Saving

Trends

A quantitative review of the current status of financial inclusion globally, based on the two Findex datasets and supplemented by data from the EIU Global Microscope 2014, UN, World Development Indicators, IMF, Alliance for Financial Inclusion, and the GSMA State of the Industry.
<h1>Key Findings</h1>
<h2>The world – every region, income level, and “slice” of the global population – is moving toward greater financial access.</h2>
According to the World Bank’s Global Findex data, the number of financially excluded people globally dropped from 2.5 billion to 2 billion in the three years from 2011 to 2014. At this rate, by 2020 the gap will have closed significantly, with 1 billion excluded adults remaining. With an added push, the World Bank’s goal of universal access to some type of financial account by 2020 seems within reach.
<h2>Financial exclusion will look much different in 2020 than it looks today.</h2>
Exclusion will be more hidden—in harder-to-reach population segments, in slow-growth countries, and in inadequate products that are not actively used to improve lives. Emphasis needs to turn to “leaving no one behind” and to offering services that make a real difference.
<h2>Universal financial access is a first step toward full financial inclusion.</h2>
According to CFI, Financial inclusion is a state in which everyone who can use them has access to a range of quality financial services at affordable prices, with convenience, dignity, and consumer protection, delivered by a range of providers in a stable, competitive market to financially capable clients. The purpose of promoting financial inclusion is to enable people to use financial services to better manage their lives. A fully included person is an active user of quality financial services that bring significant value to their lives. Progress on access to an account must be accompanied by further efforts to achieve deeper inclusion.
<h2>Although the number of accounts has grown, many of these accounts are not in active use.</h2>
In low and middle income countries, the percent of account holders who deposit or withdraw more than three times per month remains very low, a direct contrast to the active usage patterns seen in high income countries. Accounts in these countries tend to be limited in purpose (e.g. a vehicle to receive a salary or benefit payment which is promptly cashed out). Work is needed to make accounts more useful to more people.
<h2>Progress on inclusion requires building and maintaining an enabling ecosystem including policy, regulation, and industry infrastructure.</h2>
In recent years the world has made strides on technology change, solidified government commitment and action, and increased quality and use of public goods like credit reporting systems, physical infrastructure, and digital infrastructure. These improvements increase both access and ease of use of financial services.
<h2>Our hope is that this report provokes further questions.</h2>
Which regions are advancing faster than others and why? Which countries are moving quickly, slowly, or not at all? How significant is the contribution of mobile phones to increasing account access? Who will still be excluded in 2020, and where will they be located? How can the push to financial inclusion retain a focus on quality and value for the customer?

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Global Findex

Filter

Filter

Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality: Deconstructing the 2017 Findex Results

By the Numbers: Benchmarking Progress Toward Financial Inclusion