scholarly journals Legislative and Other Selected Challenges Affecting Financial Inclusion for the Poor and Low Income Earners in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-355
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira ◽  
Menelisi Ncube
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
Relevant Role ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
The Government

AbstractThis article discusses the challenges affecting the achievement of financial inclusion for the poor and low-income earners in South Africa. The concept of financial inclusion could be defined as the provision of affordable financial products and services to all members of the society by the government and/or other relevant role-players such as financial services providers. This article identifies unemployment, poverty, financial illiteracy, over-indebtedness, high bank fees, mistrust of the banking system, lack of relevant national identity documentation and poor legislative framework for financial inclusion as some of the challenges affecting the full attainment of financial inclusion for the poor and low-income earners in South Africa. Given these flaws, the article highlights the need for the government, financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders to adopt legislative and other measures as an antidote to financial exclusion and poverty challenges affecting the poor and low-income earners in South Africa.

scholarly journals A Legal Analysis of the Use of Innovative Technology in the Promotion of Financial Inclusion for Low-Income Earners in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira ◽  
Phemelo Magau
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
The Government

The promotion of financial inclusion is important for the combating of financial exclusion in many countries, including South Africa. Nonetheless, most low-income earners living in rural areas and informal settlements are still struggling to gain access to basic financial products and financial services in South Africa. This status quo has been caused by a number of factors such as the absence of an adequate financial inclusion policy, the geographical remoteness of financial institutions to most low-income earners, rigid identity documentary requirements, a lack of access to reliable and affordable Internet connection by low-income earners living in informal settlements and rural areas, a lack of financial illiteracy, the high costs of financial services, unemployment and poverty, over-indebtedness, and cultural and psychological hindrances to low-income earners in South Africa. Consequently, these factors have somewhat limited the access to financial services offered by financial institutions to low-income earners living in rural areas and informal settlements. In many countries, including South Africa, the financial sector is relying on innovative technology, especially in banking institutions, to aid in the offering of financial services to their customers. It is against this background that this article discusses selected legal and related challenges affecting the regulation and use of innovative technology to promote financial inclusion for low-income earners in South Africa. The article further discusses possible measures that could be adopted by the government, financial institutions and other relevant regulatory bodies to promote the use of innovative technology to combat the financial exclusion of low-income earners in South Africa.

A Financial Inclusion as a Catalyst for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Akeem Olaide Abimbola
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Mobile Banking ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level

The purpose of this article is to examine the role financial inclusion can play in the reduction of poverty in Nigeria. Financial inclusion which can be explained as access to formal financial services such as credit, savings and insurance opportunities is still very vague in developing countries such as Nigeria where there is high level of poverty. The country has a large number of ‘unbanked’ people whose business activities are not captured in the country’s economic reports. These ‘unbanked’ populaces are illiterates who are either unemployed or under employed and lack access to financial services and information, and are totally excluded in the financial ecosystem and market. It examines the roles of government and financial institutions and the use of various mobile initiatives such as mobile banking, mobile money, agent banking etc. as financial inclusion tools to stimulate poverty reduction. Time series analysis on data obtained from secondary sources between the periods of 1992 and 2016 was adopted by the authors and the study covered financial inclusion as it relates to unbanked people in Nigeria. Other empirical studies in this field were used to strengthen the OLS findings. It was concluded that majority of the ‘unbanked’ in Nigeria are low income people who do not have access to financial services and information on financial inclusion. While few are timid on the need to use a bank, a large number of them are willing to use banking services and believe the availability of these services will help improve their economic condition. At the end of the paper, it is recommended that the government should encourage Banks to continue to take advantage of all the financial inclusion policies of the government in mobilizing funds from the informal sector into the banking system and this can be best done by increasing the amount of customers within the financial system as a tool for encouraging financial inclusion and stimulating the economy and thereby reducing poverty in the country

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion as a Catalyst for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (06) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akeem Abimbola ◽  
Felicia O. Olokoyo ◽  
Opeyemi Babalola ◽  
Elemide Farouk
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level ◽  
Number Of Customers

Financial inclusion which can be explained as access to formal financial services such as credit, savings and insurance opportunities is still very vague in developing countries such as Nigeria where there is high level of poverty. The country has a large number of ‘unbanked’ people whose business activities are not captured in the country’s economic reports. These ‘unbanked’ populaces are illiterates who are either unemployed or under-employed and lack access to financial services and information and are totally excluded in the financial ecosystem and market. Hence, this paper examines the role of financial inclusion in the reduction of poverty in Nigeria.  It examines the roles of government and financial institutions and the use of various mobile initiatives such as mobile banking, mobile money, agent banking etc. as financial inclusion tools to stimulate poverty reduction. Time series analysis on data obtained from secondary sources between the periods of 1992 and 2016 was adopted and the paper covered financial inclusion as it relates to unbanked people in Nigeria. The paper found out that majority of the ‘unbanked’ in Nigeria are low income people who do not have access to financial services and information on financial inclusion. While few are timid on the need to use a bank, many them are willing to use banking services and believe the availability of these services will help improve their economic condition. The paper therefore recommends that the banks should be encouraged to continue to take advantage of all the financial inclusion policies of the government in mobilizing funds from the informal sector into the banking system. This can be best done by increasing the number of customers within the financial system as a tool for encouraging financial inclusion and stimulating the economy and thereby reducing poverty in the country.

scholarly journals The Nexus between Mobile Money Regulation, Innovative Technology and the Promotion of Financial Inclusion in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira ◽  
Elfas Torerai
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Mobile Money ◽  
The Poor

The advent of mobile money innovations has given people in rural areas, informal settlements and other poor communities an opportunity to participate in Zimbabwe's mainstream financial economy. However, the technology-driven money services have presented some challenges to the traditional banking sector in general and the regulation of financial services in particular. Firstly, most mobile money services are products of telecommunication corporations, which are not banks. Telecommunication companies use their network reach to provide mobile money services via mobile devices at a cheaper cost than banks across the country in Zimbabwe. As such, banks face unprecedented competition from telecommunications companies that are venturing into financial services. It also appears that prudential regulation of banks cannot keep up with the fast pace at which technological innovations are developing and this has created a disjuncture between the regulation and the use of technological innovations to promote financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. The Banking Act [Chapter 24:20] 9 of 1999, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 22:15] 5 of 1999 and the National Payment Systems Act [Chapter 24:23] 21 of 2001 have a limited scope in terms of the regulation of mobile money services in Zimbabwe. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2016-2020 to provide impetus to the financial inclusion of the poor, unbanked and low-income earners in Zimbabwe. However, the NFIS appears to push more for bank-led financial inclusion than it does for innovation-driven initiatives such as mobile money services. This article highlights the positive influence of mobile money services in improving financial inclusion for the poor, unbanked and low-income earners in Zimbabwe. The article also seeks to point out gaps and flaws in the financial services regulatory framework that may limit the potential of mobile money services to reach more people so that they actively participate in the Zimbabwean economy. It is submitted that the Zimbabwean mobile money services regulations and the financial regulatory framework should be carefully amended in line with the recent innovations in mobile money to adequately regulate the use of mobile money services and innovative technology to address the financial exclusion of the poor, unbanked and low-income earners in Zimbabwe.

Financial Inclusion in India

2016 ◽  
pp. 95-104
Author(s):  
Rohit Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
The World

The concept of Financial Inclusion is not a new one. It has become a catchphrase now and has attracted the global attention in the recent past. Lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate financial services has always been a global problem. It is estimated that about 2.9 billion people around the world do not have access to formal sources of banking and financial services. India is said to live in its villages, a convincing statement, considering that nearly 72% of our population lives there. However, a significant proportion of our 650,000 odd villages does not have a single bank branch to boast of, leaving swathes of the rural population in financial exclusion. RBI has reported that the financial exclusion in India leads to the loss of GDP to the extent of one per cent (RBI, Working Paper Series (DEPR): 8/2011). Financially excluded people, consistently, depend on money lenders even for their day to day needs, borrowing at excessive rates to finally get caught in a debt trap. In addition, people in far-off villages are completely unaware of financial products like insurance, which could protect them in adverse situation. Therefore, financial inclusion is a big necessity for our country as a large chunk of the world's poor resides here. Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. Present paper is an attempt to highlight the present efforts of financial inclusion in India its future road map, its challenges etc.

Mobile Financial Services

2020 ◽  
pp. 96-119
Author(s):  
Alexander Maina Kimari ◽  
Eric Blanco Niyitunga
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Customer Experience ◽  
Financial Service ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
Mobile Financial Services

The chapter explores financial exclusion, its causes, and consequences in society. The chapter found that the existing discrepancy in financial inclusion between the developed and developing world is driven by financial exclusion that makes it difficult for financial service providers to expand outreach to the poor at affordable prices. The chapter aims to investigate the role of mobile financial service design and development in dealing with financial exclusion. It was found that mobile financial services are promoting financial inclusion in various markets. However, few studies have been undertaken on the benefits of mobile financial services in dealing with the high rates of financial exclusion. The chapter recommended that to achieve financial inclusion, there is need for mobile financial services providers to take into account customer experience through the ease of using the phone interface. The chapter concluded that there is need for scholars in the fields of finance and economics to conduct research in the areas of mobile financial services and their role in society.

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion through Islamic Banking

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 324
Author(s):  
Mumna Nazar
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Islamic Banking ◽  
Committee Report ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The People ◽  
Financial Exclusion

<div><p><em>Financial inclusion is a buzz word today. It plays an important role in driving away the poverty from the country. Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring financial services to the weaker sections of the society at an affordable cost. As per the Sachar Committee Report, Muslims in India are financially excluded. Even though they have an account, the extent of usage is very low due to the religious reasons.  The Non-Muslims also do not actively engage in the formal financial system due to the interest involvement. Islamic Bank can serve as a remedy for the financial exclusion of the Muslims as well as Non-Muslims community. The objective of this paper is to understand the extent of financial inclusion among the people in Kerala and their awareness and preference towards Islamic banking. Both primary and secondary data are collected for the study. Secondary data are collected from various secondary sources like published articles, journals, reports, books and websites. Primary data are collected with the help of questionnaire among people in Kerala. The study revealed that most of the respondents have accessed bank accounts but the extent of usage is only for namesake. Moreover the awareness and preference towards Islamic Banking is very high among the Muslims as well as Non-Muslims and suggested that proper care must be taken for introducing Islamic banking system in India. It will ultimately leads to the inclusive growth of our country.</em></p></div>

Boosting financial inclusion through social assistance reform: evidence-based approach in selecting a payment system

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-299
Author(s):  
Hilman Palaon ◽  
Sudarso Kaderi Wiryono ◽  
Taufik Faturohman
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Debit Card ◽  
Food Purchases ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Government

Digitizing social assistance for the poor has been proven to increase financial inclusion. The Indonesian Government initiated reform for non-cash social assistance disbursement in 2016. Evidence-based policy approach is an effective technique for informing the government on appropriate new regulations. A pilot project involving 4,295 participants was conducted to evaluate the following payment systems: debit card, mobile money, QR code (quick response), and NFC (near field communication). Beneficiaries utilized the funds for cash withdrawals and food purchases at bank agents. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in the analysis. The government decided to use debit card with multiple wallet features. A new regulation was made to support the implementation in 2017, and by the end of 2019, the government provided more than 12 million new savings accounts to the poor. Potential future improvements are proposed for the sustainability of the solution, which include a disbursement providers’ revenue model, broader financial services involvement, bank agents’ inventory system, and optimizing the latest innovations.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL INCLUSION: A PRELUDE TO ECONOMIC STATUS OF VULNERABLE GROUP

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 147-154
Author(s):  
Mukesh Kumar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Banking Services ◽  
The Government

India is a country where a sizeable amount of population lives in rural areas. They are engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Most of the people living in rural areas are poor. They do not have any access to the banks. The awareness and access of the poor to the banking services is important for the alleviation of the poverty. Their access to the banking services will contribute a lot to the growth and development of our country’s economy. Financial inclusion is a great weapon to overcome the financial backwardness as well as the establishment of good governance.It broadens the resource base of the financial system by developing a culture of savings among large segment of rural population, disadvantaged group and plays an essential role in the process of economic development. The Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have been making concentrated efforts periodically to overcome such vicious problems by promoting Financial Inclusion, being one of the important national objectives of the country. Since first phase of nationalization (1969) GoI continuously promoting financial inclusion through self-help groups, no frills account, simplification of KYC, Business correspondents etc., but no palpable effect could be seen in the plight of these financially vulnerable people. To mitigate this long drawn financial sufferings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new scheme in his Independence Day speech on 15th Aug 2014 called Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY). Mission of PMJDY is to ensure easy access of financial services for the excluded section i.e. weaker section and the low income group. This effort will certainly go a long way in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty, while mitigating systematic risk and maintaining financial stability. This article focuses on the RBI, GoI initiatives, current status and future prospects of financial inclusion in India on the basis of facts and data provided by various secondary sources. It is concluded that financial inclusion shows positive and valuable changes.

Financial Inclusion in India

2020 ◽  
pp. 559-568
Author(s):  
Rohit Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
The World

The concept of Financial Inclusion is not a new one. It has become a catchphrase now and has attracted the global attention in the recent past. Lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate financial services has always been a global problem. It is estimated that about 2.9 billion people around the world do not have access to formal sources of banking and financial services. India is said to live in its villages, a convincing statement, considering that nearly 72% of our population lives there. However, a significant proportion of our 650,000 odd villages does not have a single bank branch to boast of, leaving swathes of the rural population in financial exclusion. RBI has reported that the financial exclusion in India leads to the loss of GDP to the extent of one per cent (RBI, Working Paper Series (DEPR): 8/2011). Financially excluded people, consistently, depend on money lenders even for their day to day needs, borrowing at excessive rates to finally get caught in a debt trap. In addition, people in far-off villages are completely unaware of financial products like insurance, which could protect them in adverse situation. Therefore, financial inclusion is a big necessity for our country as a large chunk of the world's poor resides here. Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. Present paper is an attempt to highlight the present efforts of financial inclusion in India its future road map, its challenges etc.

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