At the G20 Summit in South Korea in 2010, the Leaders of the G20, recognizing financial inclusion as one of the main pillars of the global development agenda, endorsed a concrete Financial Inclusion Action Plan. Financial Inclusion was not only prominently included in the Leaders’ Declaration, but was also highlighted as an important component under the Seoul Development Consensus and the financial sector reform agenda.
At the first GPFI Forum held in Riviera Maya on October 1, 2011, the GPFI Sub-Groups showcased achievements to date and discussed the vision and agenda for the upcoming Summit working cycle.
On 1 October 2011, Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) held its first forum in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The forum offered opportunity for stakeholders to exchange ideas on the challenges and opportunities confronted by policymakers in making financial inclusion a reality in their countries, as well as part of a broader global development agenda.
Financial inclusion for poor households and microbusinesses may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems, the Financial Action Task Force, the International Association of Deposit Insurers, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. Yet these global standard-settings bodies have significant influence on how many get access to what range and quality of formal financial services and at what cost.
Pittsburgh Summit (November 2009): G20 Leaders commit to improving access to financial services for the poor. The Financial Inclusion Experts Group (FIEG) is launched with two subgroups: Access through Innovation (ATI) – to develop principles for promoting financial inclusion (in particular through promising innovations) - and SME Finance.
Access to finance provides stability and progress to families, businesses, and the economy as a whole.Financial transactions – payments, savings, borrowing, and insurance – are the basis of most of our daily activities, whether we are rich or poor. If anything, the evidence from studies in developing countries how that the poor actually depend on financial transactions more than rich.
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The G20’s work on financial inclusion has been ably supported since the Pittsburgh Summit by the AFI (Alliance for Financial Inclusion), CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), IFC (International Finance Corporation) and the World Bank, which joined GPFI as an implementing partner in January 2012. Read the briefs and learn more about the nature of this ongoing work process.
