Financial Inclusion is the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream Institutional players.
In an increasingly connected world, having financial services readily available is absolutely key to businesses being able to innovate, grow and sustain themselves in entrepreneurial environments. However, despite connectivity being higher than ever before, a large number of people around the world remain without access to basic banking and financial services. According to the World Bank’s last report on financial inclusion and development, despite efforts to create better financial services in the developing world, approximately 2bn people still remained unbanked (do not own a basic bank account).
Financial Inclusion, which means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs (such as transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance), is more important than ever before. Access to a transaction account is a first step toward broader financial inclusion since it allows people to store money, and send and receive payments.
The World Bank considers financial inclusions one of its key goals in the coming years, and if hoping for Universal Financial Access (UFA) by 2020.
In Uganda, the sector has had a number of innovative platforms to enable the accessibility of financial services by every Ugandan regardless of his/her location. Such services included but not limited to; mobile money, Agent Banking among others to ably cover the service gap in Uganda.
