Financial Inclusion In Latin America and the Caribbean: Data and Trends

This report takes a look at financial inclusion, a complex issue, difficult to analyze because of the diverse perspectives that have to be taken into account to understand and measure it. There is no consensus on the definition of financial inclusion. There are three features that are usually considered: access, use, and quality of financial services. These features are closely related to the level of development of each country's overall financial system and any existing market gap.This information is critical to identify the advances and challenges of financial inclusion, as well as for the design of efficient and effective public policies. This report presents, for the first time, this information utilizing previously under-utilized data on financial inclusion, including those services mostly used by low-income populations or other groups experiencing a financing gap

Financial Inclusion in Latin America: Data and Trends

Financial inclusion is a complex issue, difficult to analyze because of the diverse perspectives that have to be taken into account to understand and measure it. Although there is no consensus on the definition of financial inclusion, there are three features that are usually considered: access, use, and quality of financial services. These features are closely related to the level of development of each country's overall financial system and any existing market gap.This information is critical to identify the advances and challenges of financial inclusion, as well as for the design of efficient and effective public policies. There are multiple sources of information of financial inclusion, often developed following different approaches.However, no single source allows a comparison using existing and somewhat abundant domestic data on the structure and level of coverage of financial services (credit, savings, micro-insurance and remittances), including those services mostly used by low-income populations or any other group experiencing a financing gap. This report presents, for the first time, this information on financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean based on previously under-utilized data