FI2020 Progress Report

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Published: October 2015

WIn the new FI2020 Progress Report, we present our assessment of progress toward global financial inclusion through the lens of five topics: Addressing Customer Needs, Client Protection, Credit Reporting & Data, Financial Capability, and Technology. The report provides a qualitative and interactive assessment of who is doing what, celebrating the most significant accomplishments, and highlighting the gaps that constitute the agenda for the coming years. We’ve started each topic of conversation with a scorecard between 0 and 10. We invite you to use the interactive feature on the website to cast your own vote and compare your scores to ours. Click here to visit the Progress Report website.

Our Main Message

When we look around the world today, we are both astonished by the progress and daunted by the gaps that remain. CFI’s vision puts quality and value for the customer at the heart of financial inclusion, and these considerations take on new urgency in the rush to scale. In the progress reports, we cite a particular concern with the customer side of the equation. It is on this side of the equation that the sector must now increasingly concentrate, even as it continues to create robust transactional rails. The challenge involves national policymakers, regulators, financial service providers of all types, non-profits, and global bodies. As you read the reports you will see just how many efforts all these players are making. Despite the fact that we can cite and celebrate dozens of examples, we find that in many areas, such as financial capability, the level of effort is not yet commensurate with the challenge at hand, and large shifts are called for, both in deployment of resources and in assignment of roles and responsibilities. Overall, we find that meaningful financial inclusion requires providers to take on greater responsibility for customer value.