Road to Inclusion: A Look at the Financially Underserved and Excluded across Europe

This paper studies the financially excluded and underserved population in Europe. The quantitative element of the study contains a sample of over 630 people without any access to electronic payments, and looks at the type of services they have/do not have access to. It also conducts an in-depth ethnographic study, looking qualitatively at how 36 different households live day-to-day and manage their finances while being excluded/underserved. The paper then looks at the opportunity for prepaid cards as an entry point for financial inclusion, and makes the following observations:

• Money management is an issue with a majority of excluded/underserved population using cash for making payments for rent, utilities, goods and services etc. They look for safe places to keep money, do bargain hunting to make ends meet, and there remains a strong emotional connection to the physicality of cash, not displayed through cards;
• Access to technology is varied with a general distrust of internet purchasing and the sociability inherent in bartering for goods and services;
• Education about financial inclusion will be a key factor in communicating the merits of safety, about its dual functionality (in-store and online) that promotes a sense of freedom, and highlighting the usage of financial products for savings purposes.