The 2016 Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project Report: Advancing Equitable Financial Ecosystems

The Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP), launched in summer 2014, examines access to and usage of secure, affordable formal financial services among underserved populations. The objective of FDIP is to provide policymakers, the private sector, NGO representatives, and the general public with information that can help improve financial inclusion in their respective countries and beyond. As part of this aim, the FDIP team produces an annual report and scorecard evaluating commitment to and progress toward financial inclusion across a set of geographically and economically diverse countries. 

The 2016 FDIP Report analyzes key changes in the global financial inclusion landscape over the previous year and broadens its scope by adding five new countries to the study: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Egypt, Haiti, and Vietnam. The report’s findings show continuing progress across the global financial inclusion landscape. This assessment is driven in part by the recent launch of comprehensive financial inclusion strategies in several countries and, more broadly, by substantial progress in enhancing the digital financial services ecosystem.

Finally, the report identifies four priority areas where action is needed to advance inclusive finance:

1. An increased focus on establishing (and then achieving) specific, measurable financial inclusion targets;
2. Promoting more comprehensive data collection and analysis regarding financial access and usage, particularly among traditionally underserved groups such as women;
3. Advancing regulatory efforts designed to facilitate financial inclusion; 
4. Enhancing financial capability to promote sustainable financial inclusion.