Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments of society, in contrast to financial exclusion where those services are not available or affordable. An estimated 2.5 billion working-age adults globally have no access to the types of formal financial services delivered by regulated financial institutions. For example in Sub-Saharan Africa only 24% of adults have a bank account even though Africa’s formal financial sector has grown in recent years. It is argued that as banking services are in the nature of public good; the availability of banking and payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of financial inclusion public policy.