Seven guiding principles to help countries improve access to financial services for two billion adults were set out in a report on financial inclusion released Tuesday by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the World Bank Group.
The CPMI report proposes possible actions that countries can take to advance financial inclusion, including providing basic accounts at little or no cost, stepping up efforts to improve financial literacy, and adopting electronic payment services.
The CPMI and the World Bank Group say that the report aims to help central banks and other policymakers achieve effective financial access and broader financial inclusion, and will support the World Bank’s goal of achieving ‘universal financial access’ by 2020.
Nearly 40% of the world’s adult population, about two billion people, have no bank account, the report notes, and basic accounts are an essential financial service that can serve as a gateway to other important financial services, such as savings, credit and insurance, it stresses.
“Financial inclusion efforts are beneficial not only for those who will become financially included, but also for the national payments infrastructure and, ultimately, the economy,” the organizations say in the announcement of the report’s release.
The report was prepared by a task force of central banks and international financial institutions, which was co-chaired by Marc Hollanders, special adviser on financial infrastructure at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and Massimo Cirasino, practice manager, financial infrastructure & access, at the World Bank Group.