Financial Access 2010
This report is the second in a series of annual reports by CGAP and the World Bank Group to monitor statistics for financial access around the world and inform the policy debate.
The report reviews survey responses from 142 economies, updates statistics on the use of financial services, and analyzes changes that took place in 2009. It also reviews three policy areas relevant to the current financial access debate, namely, financial inclusion mandates, consumer protection in financial services, and access to finance by small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
In recent years, the debate about financial development and economic growth has highlighted the need for building inclusive financial systems. The report presents the following trends in 2009:
- Access to basic financial services continued to improve at a slower rate as the financial crisis took its toll;
- Financial inclusion mandates are on the agenda of many financial regulators and reform efforts are widespread, but implementation capacity is often limited;
- Consumer protection legislation is in place, but its implementation and enforcement is poor;
- Many regulators collect statistics on SME finance volumes, but lack of a consistent definition makes global estimates challenging.
