The Economics of Financial Inclusion

This report explores financial inclusion and the opportunity it represents for financial services providers. It considers financial inclusion against the backdrop of attitudes toward ESG. It breaks down the four different types of providers focusing on financial inclusion, as well as examining how some of these providers have fared since launch. The report also outlines the best approaches to follow for companies aiming to seize the financial inclusion opportunity, while considering the financial needs and goals of various different demographics.

The term "financial inclusion" covers a wide variety of different provider types and business models. For simplicity, we organize our analysis around the core types of customers that are typically excluded or underserved. This includes the 1.4 billion unbanked or underbanked worldwide, as well as groups that experience some degree of discrimination from mainstream providers and communities that can access financial services-but not in ways that advance the issues they most care about.

Scope

• Consumers in the Middle East and Africa are most willing to pay for premium features (85.4% of respondents), underlining the highly favorable market conditions for infrastructure-lite inclusion plays in this market.
• The analyst’s 2024 Financial Services Consumer Survey found that individuals on the lowest incomes are unsurprisingly most likely to have fallen behind on bills and payments within the last six months, especially in the Americas.
• When we examine financial goals split by gender, our survey data suggests little to separate males and females-with rarely more than 1 percentage point difference across goals such as “budget better,” “pay off debts,” and “build savings and investments.”

Reasons to Buy

• Learn about the key economically viable categories of financial inclusion.
• Understand the best attack vectors for attracting and retaining these segments.
• Identify areas where service or product provision can be common across segments, and where there is the most compelling case for market- or segment-level calibration.