The second international financial inclusion forum, entitled “Financial Inclusion Forum. Leaving No One Behind”, took place on 12 June 2019. It gathered over 300 experts, educators, and representatives of state agencies, banks, payment systems, and businesses from 12 countries, namely: Australia, Great Britain, India, Kenya, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, USA, Turkey, France, and Jamaica. The forum was co-organized by the National Bank of Ukraine, the USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project, MasterCard, and Visa.
This year, the discussions focused on the need to build on the basis of international best practices the effective practices for enhancing financial inclusion, as a common way for the state and businesses to speed up the economic growth.
The forum was a strategically important event for both Ukraine and the whole world as evidenced by the statement of HM Queen Maxima of the Netherlands serving as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), Honorary Patron of the G20's Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), and Honorary Chair of the Money Wise Platform (the Dutch platform for financial literacy), available at. The statement was read on her behalf by Eduard Hoeks, the Netherlands Ambassador to Ukraine.
In addition, welcoming speeches were delivered by NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii and Susan Fritz, USAID Mission Director to Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.
Lessons Learnt and Future Trends: Key Points
- Financial inclusion creates opportunities for an inclusive economic growth and improvement of the overall wellbeing of the country and its citizens.
- At present, it is not enough for the state and businesses just to create the technical conditions necessary for the use of financial products and services, that is, to ensure access of the public to the financial system. It is important to study the actual consumer needs (the demand side) and guide the efforts to satisfy them. The use of the cutting-edge financial technologies should become a trend.
- To attract new consumers, financial products should be not only useful but also enjoyable.
- The financial sector is built on trust. That is why the high-quality communication is important: trust cannot be achieved without it. One should give clear explanations, use plain language, and create positive emotions.
- Financial inclusion and financial literacy go hand in hand. Without financial literacy, people cannot fully utilize the potential of financial services. Despite lagging behind the EU states in terms of financial literacy, Ukrainians would like to receive more information on the benefits of financial products as well as the methods of money saving and financial planning.
- Successful cases from all around the world prove that financial inclusion is impossible without partnerships. Partnerships are required for scaling the results and ensuring the stability of development.
- In the future, financial technologies will have an even closer link to the development of internet technologies and social networks.
Useful materials
Information on the forum, agenda, participants, photos, and presentations of speakers: https://finclusion.bank.gov.ua/
The full video is available on the forum’s webpage and on the NBU’s official YouTube channel:
Speech of NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii:
The NBU’s Vision of the Financial Literacy Strategy (the presentation by Director of the Communications Department Nataliia Bondarenko).
The Policy on Protection of Rights of Financial Services Consumers (to be discussed with the market participants).
For reference
The first Financial Inclusion Forum was held on 12 June 2018. The forum’s panel discussions and speeches were focused on answering the question “How to involve people in financial services, and why is it important for the state and business?”
This year, as in 2018, the forum became the platform for discussions on the availability of financial services in Ukraine and for sharing ideas on cooperation between the state, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations as well as creating a common vision on the ways of enhancing financial inclusion of Ukrainians.
The NBU has identified financial inclusion as one of its strategic goals. Financial inclusion means creating conditions that encourage all segments of the population to use various financial services that are accessible, affordable, regulated, and fitting for their needs in order to stimulate the country’s economic growth and reduce inequality in society.
Under the OECD/INFE working definition, financial inclusion refers to the process of promoting affordable, timely, and adequate access to regulated financial products and services and broadening their use by all segments of society through the implementation of tailored existing and innovative approaches, including financial awareness and education, with a view to promoting financial wellbeing as well as economic and social inclusion.