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Global Findex: Indonesia leads East Asia and the Pacific in financial inclusion progress
Almost fifty percent (48.9%) of the adults in Indonesia now own a bank account, reflecting a true turning point in the country’s journey to boost financial inclusion. This also registers a marked improvement from its 36% of account ownership in 2014 and 20% in 2011.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Is Universal Financial Access Still Possible?
The most recent Global Findex survey shows 515 million adults have opened bank accounts since 2014. While that's good progress, Daniel Monehin, who heads Financial Inclusion for Mastercard, points out that owning an account is just the first step towards financial inclusion - the real value comes with being able to use it in a safe and convenient way. That's why universal financial access must go hand-in-hand with efforts to drive usage, writes Monehin, who urges the sector to focus on people, products and partnerships.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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European Investment Bank and International Monetary Fund join forces to boost financial inclusion in Africa
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have signed a letter of understanding to promote sustainable economic development, financial stability and inclusive growth in Africa
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Gates Foundation lays out its 3 steps to global financial inclusion
“In the case of financial inclusion, it’s not about building a parallel system for poor people, but it’s about building inclusive solution for everyone,” Voorhies said.
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India accounts for 55% of new bank accounts opened globally: World Bank
India's financial inclusion efforts have won recognition from the World Bank as their data indicate that 55 per cent of new bank accounts opened are from India, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said.
- Region
- South Asia
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A Test Case for Digital Leap-Frogging: What the Financial Inclusion Community Can Learn from Vietnam
With its rapid economic expansion, large unbanked population, high mobile penetration and progressive regulations, Vietnam has the potential to leap-frog over brick-and-mortar banking and arrive directly at the forefront of digital finance. Krishna Thacker of MetLife Foundation in Asia profiles an emerging innovator in the country's mobile payments space, and explores lessons learned in driving the uptake of digital financial services.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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100m Pakistanis without a bank account, says World Bank
Pakistan is home to 100 million adults without a bank account, with 13 per cent adults citing religious concerns as a reason for not having account at a financial institution, a World Bank report on the use of financial services revealed.
- Region
- South Asia
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Financial inclusion is improving around the world—but women are still missing out
In developing countries, the gap in financial inclusion between men and women has stalled at nine percentage points.
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