World Bank Group Report Shows Financial Inclusion 

Ijaz Anwar writes about the World Band Report

In a new World Bank Group report people from lower income demographic will start to see more financial inclusion in subsequent years.

According to the article, “Low-income populations benefit the most from technological innovations such as mobile payments, mobile banking, and borrower identification based on fingerprinting and iris scans. These innovations make financial services cheaper and easier to access for the poor, women, and rural residents, especially those living in remote, less populated regions without brick-and-mortar bank branches.”

More than 50 countries are taking heed to financial inclusion. Jim Yong Kim, World Bank Group President, has a goal to achieve universal financial access by 2020 for all working-age individuals. South Africa is just one example of a country that is looking to include more, especially those underserved. In just four years, they have increased bank accounts by six million with a public-private framework.

Countries like Kenya, the Philippines and Tanzania have greatly benefited from technological innovations, which help speed up the process. People in the remote areas of Brazil are being included with “correspondent banking” zones including retail stores, gas stations, and even boats on the Amazon river.

Phone companies are even starting to offer more affordable smart phones in an effort to include people from lower income demographic, where there exists a massive market waiting to be tapped. This can only bode well with banks, as more people will be able to use their smart phones for mobile banking.

2.5 billion people, half of the world’s adult population, lack bank accounts. It is great that banks are considering those whose needs are unmet, because there exists such a vast void.

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