The Centre For Financial Inclusion At Accion: Case Study
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Centre for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) (proper citation) also defines full financial inclusion as a state in which all people who can use financial services have access to a full suite of quality services, provided at affordable prices, in a convenient manner, and with dignity for the clients. In other words, financial inclusion looks at all initiatives that bring financial services closer i.e. how available and affordable are financial services to different segments of the population.
Africa, as opposed to other parts of the world registers the lowest levels of financial inclusion among its population, which population is largely poor. According to Demirgüç Kunt & Klapper, (2013), only 25% of the adult population …show more content…
Mobile phone networks hold considerable potential to meet the needs of the less well-off who remain largely ‘unbanked’ whom historically, the formal banking sector had shown little motivation to extending services to. Mobile phones therefore, as a channel for service consumption, have continued to offer enormous potentials since they are an integral part of customers’ lives. Mobile banking is therefore now considered as one of the most effective alternatives that makes basic financial services more accessible to low-income earners especially in developing …show more content…
These have contributed to the rapidly growing semi-formal and informal financial sector in the country which for example includes the money lenders and SACCOs.
Today, Uganda’s financial institutions are soundly run because of the implementation of the IMF and World Bank reforms.
However, there is still poor access to financial services in Uganda especially in the rural areas mainly because banks are concentrated in Kampala, and surrounding area and branches spread thinly across the country.
Historically, for people to be able to access financial services they had to physically have access to a bank branch, a credit union or an ATM machine. After mobile money came into play, proximity of the mobile money agents is what mattered as opposed to the nearest bank branch or ATM.
It should be noted that financial inclusion does not require that everyone who is eligible, should use each of the services, but rather they should be able to use them as
The Centre for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) (proper citation) also defines full financial inclusion as a state in which all people who can use financial services have access to a full suite of quality services, provided at affordable prices, in a convenient manner, and with dignity for the clients. In other words, financial inclusion looks at all initiatives that bring financial services closer i.e. how available and affordable are financial services to different segments of the population.
Africa, as opposed to other parts of the world registers the lowest levels of financial inclusion among its population, which population is largely poor. According to Demirgüç Kunt & Klapper, (2013), only 25% of the adult population …show more content…
Mobile phone networks hold considerable potential to meet the needs of the less well-off who remain largely ‘unbanked’ whom historically, the formal banking sector had shown little motivation to extending services to. Mobile phones therefore, as a channel for service consumption, have continued to offer enormous potentials since they are an integral part of customers’ lives. Mobile banking is therefore now considered as one of the most effective alternatives that makes basic financial services more accessible to low-income earners especially in developing …show more content…
These have contributed to the rapidly growing semi-formal and informal financial sector in the country which for example includes the money lenders and SACCOs.
Today, Uganda’s financial institutions are soundly run because of the implementation of the IMF and World Bank reforms.
However, there is still poor access to financial services in Uganda especially in the rural areas mainly because banks are concentrated in Kampala, and surrounding area and branches spread thinly across the country.
Historically, for people to be able to access financial services they had to physically have access to a bank branch, a credit union or an ATM machine. After mobile money came into play, proximity of the mobile money agents is what mattered as opposed to the nearest bank branch or ATM.
It should be noted that financial inclusion does not require that everyone who is eligible, should use each of the services, but rather they should be able to use them as