Financial Inclusion for Economic Growth: Outcomes of the Second International Financial Inclusion Forum
The second international financial inclusion forum, entitled “Financial Inclusion Forum. Leaving No One Behind”, took place on 12 June 2019. It gathered over 300 experts, educators, and representatives of state agencies, banks, payment systems, and businesses from 12 countries, namely: Australia, Great Britain, India, Kenya, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, USA, Turkey, France, and Jamaica. The forum was co-organized by the National Bank of Ukraine, the USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project, MasterCard, and Visa.
This year, the discussions focused on the need to build on the basis of international best practices the effective practices for enhancing financial inclusion, as a common way for the state and businesses to speed up the economic growth.
The forum was a strategically important event for both Ukraine and the whole world as evidenced by the statement of HM Queen Maxima of the Netherlands serving as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), Honorary Patron of the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), and Honorary Chair of the Money Wise Platform (the Dutch platform for financial literacy). The statement was read on her behalf by Eduard Hoeks, the Netherlands Ambassador to Ukraine.
In addition, welcoming speeches were delivered by NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii and Susan Fritz, USAID Mission Director to Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.
Lessons Learnt and Future Trends: Key Points
- Financial inclusion creates opportunities for an inclusive economic growth and improvement of the overall wellbeing of the country and its citizens.
- At present, it is not enough for the state and businesses just to create the technical conditions necessary for the use of financial products and services, that is, to ensure access of the public to the financial system. It is important to study the actual consumer needs (the demand side) and guide the efforts to satisfy them. The use of the cutting-edge financial technologies should become a trend.
- To attract new consumers, financial products should be not only useful but also enjoyable.
- The financial sector is built on trust. That is why the high-quality communication is important: trust cannot be achieved without it. One should give clear explanations, use plain language, and create positive emotions.
- Financial inclusion and financial literacy go hand in hand. Without financial literacy, people cannot fully utilize the potential of financial services. Despite lagging behind the EU states in terms of financial literacy, Ukrainians would like to receive more information on the benefits of financial products as well as the methods of money saving and financial planning.
- Successful cases from all around the world prove that financial inclusion is impossible without partnerships. Partnerships are required for scaling the results and ensuring the stability of development.
- In the future, financial technologies will have an even closer link to the development of internet technologies and social networks.
