For social and economic reasons, national economies benefit from the inclusion of as many people as possible in financial services. In a cross country study, the present study shows that financial literacy for the general population promotes financial inclusion. This relationship goes beyond the...

Having access to credit is essential for households to address the volatility of their personal finances over time and for firms to fund their investments. Accessing financial services at affordable cost on the other hand, is crucial to ensure financial security of all economic units. Despite...

We show that financial advisors recommend more costly products to female clients, based on minutes from about 27,000 real-world advisory meetings and client portfolio data. Funds recommended to women have higher expense ratios controlling for risk, and women less often receive rebates on upfront...

This study takes stock of the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the CAREC landlocked economies in terms of their access to finance resulting from demand-side, supply-side and institutional constraints. This includes identifying cultural, procedural, institutional...

In this paper, we explore the relationship between financial literacy and a range of financial inclusion outcomes at the country level. Unlike Grohmann et al. (2018), who consider standard financial instruments as proxies for financial inclusion, we consider further instruments regarding digital...

Over one-quarter of American adults used credit-based alternative financial services (AFS) in the past five years, which carry a typical APR of 300 percent. Young adults are especially more likely to use AFS yet are also more likely to be exposed to personal finance education in schools. In this...

Inclusive finance is a core concept of finance that makes various financial products and services accessible and affordable to all individuals and businesses, especially those excluded from the formal financial system. One of the leading forces affecting people's ability to access financial...

This paper highlights the globally-important determinants of financial inclusion. The determinants identified in this paper are formal account ownership; demand for formal savings; demand for formal borrowing; financial literacy and education; debit and credit card usage; the need to receive...

FinTech in the Philippines has been gaining more attention in recent years, especially during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdowns are prevalent and cashless payment methods are encouraged to limit exposure to health risks from face-to-face and cash-based transactions. Digital...