Financial Inclusion in the Digital Age

Abstract

Financial systems have been expanding, offering more services for savings, credit, investment, insurance, and retirement. However, much remains to be done to provide quality services at low cost to people and small businesses in both urban and rural areas as well as in poorer regions where there are fewer profitable opportunities. The development of information and communication technology applied to financial services provides new opportunities to increase financial inclusion but also requires greater financial awareness and literacy. As the finance sector reaches new consumers who are inexperienced with financial services, consumers need to be fully informed of the costs and risks of the financial products on offer. Meanwhile, traditional commercial and retail banks are finding that digitized finance is disrupting their usual approaches to handling savings and lending; they need to adapt and find ways to provide electronic services to meet the growing demands of their customers.