Wednesday
April 29
2020

Viewpoint: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Financial Inclusion

By Joanne Dewar

The dawn of the new decade has seen the world gripped by an unprecedented health crisis, with a pandemic never experienced before in our lifetimes affecting countless individuals, families and communities. To date, almost 2.8 million people have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19), with 2.7 billion of the global workforce facing full or partial closures of their workplaces and governments rushing to provide stimulus packages to soften the economic blow from the outbreak.

These restrictions have affected banks as well, with widespread branch closures and opening hours shortened in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. Customers are increasingly being encouraged to use online and mobile banking as customer service phone lines are inundated with a huge volume of calls. With greater restrictions in movement being introduced, access to one’s finances – at least digitally – becomes crucial.

So how does the COVID-19 pandemic pave the way for greater financial inclusion?

Photo courtesy of EmilianDanaila.

Source: Nasdaq (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Coronavirus, Finance
Tags
financial inclusion