Getting Digital Financial Inclusion Right

Digital-only financial inclusion (DoFI) can increase convenience for financially included people, and lead to cost savings for providers of financial services. On the back of this, today digital payments are promoted by governments and digital payment companies alike as a solution to financial inclusion for all. A recently published paper examines the dangers of DoFI ¹.

There is a large body of research demonstrating that technology-enabled digital innovations, such as mobile phones, fintech and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), can accelerate financial inclusion much quicker if the right conditions and incentives are in place. However, digital technology is only a tool for accelerating financial inclusion. Financial inclusion itself entails much more than providing digital access to formal financial services.

Challenges of DoFI