The Global Microscope is a benchmarking index that has assessed the enabling environment for financial inclusion across 55 countries since 2007. This year, the Economist Impact team conducted an assessment of the index's existing data (2007-20) to understand the relationship between key financial inclusion enablers (i.e. policies, regulation and infrastructure) and financial inclusion outcomes.
This report discusses the policies that have driven change, the priorities to keep in mind for the future, the tools that will help achieve these goals and the unique ways these priorities and tools apply across different parts of the financial system. Below we summarize our key findings:
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A higher overall Global Microscope score showed a positive relationship with the number of accounts with formal financial institutions and mobile money providers among the population.
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The Infrastructure domain had the strongest relation to account ownership, documenting the positive effects on inclusion from policies facilitating the expansion of payment systems, strong digital identification regimes, widespread connectivity, and robust credit information systems. The other four domains are Government and Policy Support, Stability and Integrity, Products and Outlets, and Consumer Protection.
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Consumer Protection was also positively linked to the prevalence of bank accounts, underscoring the importance of measures to ensure that financial consumers are treated fairly across the range of distribution channels and products.
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The magnitude and quality of regulatory implementation significantly impacts financial inclusion. Larger regulatory improvements were associated with increasingly larger gains in account ownership
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