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Using a multilevel approach, I examine individual and contextual determinants of financial inclusion. I investigate, in a cross-country setting, factors that affect people's decision-making regarding the use of formal financial products and services, focusing on the effect of institutions-the legal, regulatory, and policy environment. Second, I ana...
Citations
... By natural region, the highlands and jungle are poorer than the coast, due to the informality of economic activities that employ 95% of the rural labor force and 71% of the urban labor force (INEI 2022). A relevant factor is the concentration of financial services for loans and deposits and correspondent ATMs of the country's largest banks in cities with greater economic development, such as Lima, Arequipa, La Libertad, Moquegua, and Ica, which is a limiting factor for financial inclusion, to the detriment of the less developed cities in the highlands and jungle (Bermeo 2019;Zamalloa et al. 2016;BCR 2014;Boitano and Abanto 2020). ...
... It should be noted that in that period, 53% of households in urban areas and 91% of households in rural areas lacked access to internet service (SBS 2022;INEI 2022). The situation aggravated financial exclusion in populations whose features, such as low income, low educational level, being a woman, having informal work (Sotomayor and Talledo 2018;Bermeo 2019;Izquierdo and Tuesta 2015;Aurazo and Gasmi 2022), financial and digital illiteracy, lack of financial culture, and residing in remote populations with low population density, foster voluntary exclusion (Boitano and Abanto 2020;Vargas 2022;Garcia Bianchi et al. 2020;Aparicio and Jaramillo 2012). Other factors, such as cultural (saving through third parties), the practice of informal loans, the perception of discrimination on ethnic-racial grounds, and distrust in the financial system due to the inadequate management of some savings and credit institutions supervised by the SBS, have also limited the possibility of financial inclusion among women in the rural sector of the country (Daher et al. 2021). ...
... The use and quality of the financial system measured by the number of debtors has not shown major changes in recent years (SBS 2022). This is due to factors such as a lack of interest of traditional banks to develop and approximate, financial products adequate to the needs of the population with geographical barriers and lower income (Carballo and Dalle-Nogare 2019), high operating costs and low profitability (Bermeo 2019), and the standardization of financial products that respond to the needs of regular customers located in cities with higher economic development (Boitano and Abanto 2020). ...
Despite recent efforts in Peru to boost financial inclusion, significant issues of exclusion persist, especially among vulnerable groups. This article aims to identify and analyze areas at risk of financial exclusion using a multifaceted methodology: the Financial Access Survey (FAS) for comparative analysis (Peru versus other countries and regions), geographical-distribution analysis, and the Access to Cash Index (ACI) methodology. Findings reveal that remote rural areas of Peru, particularly those inland, as well as mountainous or jungle regions, face higher risks of financial exclusion due to low digital literacy, limited digital banking usage, sparse branch and ATM networks, and inadequate transportation infrastructure. These insights can inform targeted public policies to enhance financial inclusion in Peru, as well as the development.
... In a comprehensive study, Demirguc-Kunt et al. (2013b) found that women generally have fewer opportunities to engage with formal financial systems, leading to a higher reliance on informal financial channels. This is echoed by Allen et al. (2016) and Bermeo (2019), who note that globally, women are less financially included than men, with this disparity being more acute in developing countries than in advanced economies (Klapper and Singer 2018). ...
... These obstacles for women span various domains, including financial, educational, regional, and social barriers, making them more susceptible to financial exclusion (Demirguc-Kunt et al. 2013b;United Nations;Bermeo 2019). Research also shows that in societies with legal inequalities that limit women's economic and familial roles, there tends to be a correlation with lower incomes for women. ...
... Previous studies by Demirguc-Kunt et al. (2013b), Allen et al. (2016), and Bermeo (2019) demonstrate that women generally experience lower levels of financial inclusion compared to men globally, with a more pronounced gender gap in developing countries compared to developed economies (Klapper and Singer 2018). Women in Jordan face various barriers, including financial, literacy, regional, and social obstacles, which contribute to their vulnerability to financial exclusion (Demirguc-Kunt et al. 2013b;United Nations;Bermeo 2019). This finding supports H4. ...
This study explores the role of digital financial inclusion in mitigating poverty and bolstering economic growth, with a special focus on developing nations during the COVID-19 era. Centering on Jordan, it seeks to identify key influencers of financial access by analyzing data from 260 participants using a non-linear probit regression model. The research uncovers a significant disparity in financial inclusion between Jordanian adult males and females, attributable to differences in education, wealth, employment, and income levels. These findings point to the necessity of prioritizing financial accessibility for marginalized groups such as women, the elderly, and those with lower income to effectively combat poverty and facilitate economic advancement and sustainable development in emerging markets.
... In an aggregate study (considering both men and women), ATM & bank branch density were found to be closely related to an index of financial inclusion from the demand side (Delechat et al., 2018) [18]. In a countryspecific study, the distance to bank branches was also found to enhance women's financial inclusion in Peru, and this effect was more pronounced than for men's financial inclusion (Bermeo, 2019) [62]. However, in the present study, when we focus on women, the number of ATMs has a greater positive impact compared to bank branches (Table 7). ...
Financial inclusion (FI) for vulnerable populations, such as women, is critical for achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment, and thereby, inclusive growth. Sustainable development goal 5 considers gender equality as a fundamental right and views the empowerment of women as a necessary step. Access to finance is a significant means to empower a person. In this regard, the use of digital financial services is of particular significance for women as it allows them easier access to
financial products for business and household needs. For implementing policies to reduce financial exclusion of women, it is necessary to first measure the extent of FI in society. While there are several attempts to measure FI for the general population, there is limited literature on the gender-based measurement of FI. This paper fills this important research gap by developing a gender-based FI index (GFII) focusing particularly on digital services and evaluating the performance of countries
across the globe (by considering 109 countries based on data availability) in terms of a gender-based FI measure developed by us. This index is developed using two separate indices, a digital financial service usage index (DFI) and a conventional financial service usage index (CFI). We calculate it for different countries for 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2021 using the Global Findex data base It helps us to investigate the performance of different countries over the years in ensuring the financial inclusion
of women and how digital services are penetrating over the years. One contribution of the paper is to relate the Gender Development Index (GDI) and Gender Inequality Index (GII) of countries, two well-known measures of inclusive and sustainable development, with GFII and DFI for female (DFIF). This exercise shows that while there is a positive correlation between these two sets of indicators, there are a number of countries that are high (or low) in gender development (or inequality) that
need to improve their digital FI. Interestingly, using the Global Findex database and the Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) and instrumental variable panel data model, we show that health,education, labour force participation rate, and political empowerment of women significantly impact the digital financial inclusion of women. The paper brings out relevant policy suggestions for improving women’s digital financial access and thereby enhancing gender empowerment for faster
and more inclusive growth.
... To properly address and understand the barriers to financial inclusion, it is important to classify the barriers into demand-side and supply-side barriers (Ramakrishna and Trivedi, 2018). Based on the empirical literature, such as Abel et al. (2018), Abdu et al. (2015), Akudugu (2013), Bermeo (2019), Grohmann et al. (2018), Hoyo et al. (2013), Rashdan and Eissa (2020), Tuesta et al. (2015), and Zins and Weill (2016), an "all-inclusive financial system" is determined by financial trust, financial literacy and socioeconomic factors, mainly gender, age, education, income and employment status. These variables will be explained in this section. ...
... Certain barriers to financial inclusion and formal finance usage are more severe in cases of low educational levels. This includes limited numeracy skills, limited literacy and linguistic barriers (Atkinson and Messy, 2013), which prevent financially included individuals from making adequate use of financial products they already hold (Bermeo, 2019). Education should prepare one to responsibly participate in financial markets using the knowledge and insights it provides (Bermeo, 2019). ...
... This includes limited numeracy skills, limited literacy and linguistic barriers (Atkinson and Messy, 2013), which prevent financially included individuals from making adequate use of financial products they already hold (Bermeo, 2019). Education should prepare one to responsibly participate in financial markets using the knowledge and insights it provides (Bermeo, 2019). In addition, educated individuals are more aware of consumer protection mechanisms, including consumer protection laws and deposit insurance schemes (Atkinson and Messy, 2013), which encourages them to interact in the financial market and be more frequent users of formal financial services. ...
Purpose
Most research studies have examined financial inclusion from a supply-side perspective, which measures access and usage of formal financial services by banking outreach indicators, the number of borrowers and the availability of other financial services in a given area. However, this approach is often insufficient to nuance the degree of financial exclusion faced by segments of the population. This study's overall objective is to empirically examine demand-side determinants of financial inclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
This research examines the impact of these variables on the level to which an individual is financially included. Notably, the metric employed goes beyond the basic ownership of a bank account and measures the usage of financial services rather than just access. Quantitative data were collected through self-administered surveys targeting 456 individuals in Egypt in order to test the proposed hypotheses. Three different econometric models were tested using regression analysis.
Findings
The findings imply an insignificant relationship between financial literacy and financial inclusion. Results suggest that financial exclusion is associated with low trust in financial institutions, low-income level, low education level and being elderly, with a more substantial influence on income and education.
Originality/value
Egypt suffers from a lack of up-to-date demand-side data and data available at hand allow us to know very little about the factors underpinning financial inclusion. This study is contributing demand-side, up-to-date primary data, that provides multiple insights for Egypt regarding the subject, which helps provide answers and suggestions to policy implications.
As part of bad economic planning carried out by people, they sometimes declare themselves debtors. Debts are a legal effect that causes a socio-economic impact. The present work proposes a method to measure the legal and socioeconomic effect in debtors declared in default. The method bases its operation on fuzzy logic through user experience. A case study was implemented in the canton of Pastaza with the aim of measuring the socioeconomic legal effect from which a working tool for decision-making is obtained.
