Publications
| Aug 13, 2020
Annual aggregate data is captured annually for only a minority of the world’s countries by the IMF, OECD and others. Little if any data is available at country level on financing for women entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs or other key segments of interest to GPFI’s Financial Inclusion Action Plan. Data collected by the IFIs and DFIs is uncoordinated, inconsistent and usually incompatible with national SME definitions and reporting requirements to financial sector regulators. Despite recognition of the importance of data for sound policymaking in SME financing and financial inclusion in general, there is much room for improvement. The G20 countries could play an important role in spurring greater coordination and harmonization at both levels of data collection and dissemination.
Download the report here.
| Aug 13, 2020
Dowload the report here.
| Aug 5, 2020
The G20 High-Level Policy Guidelines on Digital Financial Inclusion for Youth, Women and SMEs (HLPGs) provides sets of featured policy options targeting financial inclusion gaps for youth (subject to child protection frameworks where relevant), women and SMEs through digital financial services in order to reach conditions in which all people can live, work and thrive; as well as utilize and share benefits of innovations and digitalization. The G20 High-Level Policy Guidelines are supported by three reports: (1) Advancing the Digital Financial Inclusion of Youth; (2) Advancing Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion; and (3) Promoting Digital and Innovative SME Financing. The supporting reports emphasize the importance of fostering responsible finance through increased access to digitally enabled financial services as well as addressing relevant cross-cutting issues, including financial consumer protection and financial literacy.
Click here to download the guidelines.
| Aug 5, 2020
The focus on Youth reflects the fact that almost half of the world’s 1.2 billion young people aged between 15-24 remain unbanked. The Report examines the factors that contribute to youth financial inclusion and the role of digital financial services in meeting young people’s financial needs, and explores opportunities and challenges relating to advancing youth digital financial inclusion. It sets out a range of policy options for policy makers based on data, research and country approaches, to advance the appropriate and safe digital financial inclusion of young people, including ensuring appropriate financial consumer protection and financial education. These policy options form part of the basis for the G20 High Level Policy Guidelines on Digital Financial Inclusion for Youth, Women, and SMEs. Advancing the Digital Financial Inclusion of Youth reflects inputs and guidance from GPFI member countries, Implementing Partners, Affiliated Partners and other key stakeholders, particularly members of the G20/OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protection, FinCoNet, the OECD/International Network on Financial Education, the Arab Monetary Fund and the Alliance
| Aug 5, 2020
Access to finance is a critical barrier for SMEs to start, sustain and grow their businesses. About half of formal SMEs do not have access to formal credit, and instead rely on internal funds, or cash from friends and family, to launch and initially run their business. An extensive survey of SMEs in 135 countries showed that access to finance was reported as the most serious obstacle to the current operations of businesses. In emerging markets, approximately 131 million or 41% of formal SMEs have unmet financing needs. Creating opportunities for SMEs in emerging markets is a critical way to advance economic development and reduce poverty. The application of different technology innovations, digital financial services (DFS), or the provision of financial products and services through digital channels, has become an essential enabler to close the SME financing gap. Technology innovations serve as the foundation for the development of new business models and digital financial products, which include digital loans and other credit products, as well as equity capital.
| Aug 5, 2020
Digital financial services have expanded opportunities for millions of women across the globe. More than 240 million more women now have an account with a financial institution or mobile money service, compared to 2014. Through this increased engagement in the formal economy, women’s resilience to financial, economic and health shocks is improving. However, there remains much work to do to achieve gender equality in financial services. Approximately one billion women do not have formal financial services, due to persistent barriers in access to identification documents, mobile phones, digital skills, financial capability, as well as inappropriate products and more. Endorsed by G20 finance ministers, the report outlines 10 policy options to enable G20 members and other governments to rapidly work towards digital financial inclusion of all women. These will not only drive women’s greater economic participation but will also speed up economic recovery.
Click here to download the report.
| Jan 16, 2020
The GPFI under the Saudi Presidency will focus its work on harnessing digital and innovative technologies to boost the financial wellbeing of youth, women and SMEs. The main GPFI priorities in 2020 will be (1) Formulating high-level policy guidelines on digital financial Inclusion for youth, women and SMEs and supporting reports. (2) Finalizing the Streamlining “GPFI Work Program and Structure: A Road Map to 2020.” (3) Reviewing and updating the Financial Inclusion Action Plan.
| Jan 7, 2020
Remittances represent a major source of income for millions of families globally and often a critical first point of entry into the regulated financial market for conventionally unbanked segments of the population. For many families and persons worldwide, their remittance receiving account increases visibility, thus accessibility, of other financial services and encourages people to conduct transactions via more transparent means that are subject to at least some AML/CFT monitoring.
| Aug 9, 2019
Remittances represent a major source of income for millions of families globally and often a critical first point of entry into the regulated financial market for conventionally unbanked segments of the population. For many families and persons worldwide, their remittance receiving account increases visibility, thus accessibility, of other financial services and encourages people to conduct transactions via more transparent means that are subject to at least some AML/CFT monitoring.
| Jun 6, 2019
Aging is a global phenomenon. The number, and the proportion as a share of the population, of older people are both growing rapidly in many developed and developing countries. Other countries will experience such growth in years to come. The United Nations predicts that, by 2050, there will be over two billion people aged 60 and above worldwide. One in five people in developing countries will be 60 or more.
While definitions and concepts of what constitutes “old” differ around the world, such significant demographic shifts create new challenges for policymakers seeking to achieve sustainable financial inclusion. It is important to address these now, rather than placing unnecessary financial burdens on younger generations or add to inequality.
