Financial institutions are subject to laws and regulations that monitor the stability of the financial system, protect customers, prevent fraud and money laundering, and ensure proper disclosure of product costs and terms. Policy makers in each country are responsible for drafting and enacting these laws and regulations, and for ensuring proper supervision exists to ensure compliance.
Beyond these essential functions, many policy makers also recognize that financial exclusion can impede economic development and contribute to financial and political instability. As such, financial inclusion is increasingly regarded as an essential component in the financial stability and integrity of an economy, and governments are highlighting financial inclusion as a national priority. With the growth of digital financial services and new actors such as fintechs operating in the financial inclusion space, regulators have had to become more flexible, adapting existing regulations and in some cases, creating new laws and regulatory bodies. The challenge is to create an enabling environment that protects low-income customers while also supporting innovation and keeping up with rapid technological change.
What can you find in this Topic Hub?
Curated by FinDev editors, this Topic Hub offers you access to key resources contributed by organizations around the world who work on the topic of financial inclusion policy and regulation. Our latest blogs and publications on this topic are featured here (in the Resources Tab above), and you can find a collection of papers, case studies and guides to explore further. When there are upcoming webinars, events and recent news on this topic, they will be featured in the Topic Hub as well, so make sure to come back regularly for the latest on this topic. Finally, we’ve selected some key additional resources, which are listed on the right here, where you can learn even more about this topic.
Do you have a resource on policy and regulation that should be included on FinDev Gateway?
Featured
This guideline note provides actionable guidance on how to properly integrate digital financial services into a national financial inclusion strategy to have a positive impact on end-users.
This post is the first in the FinDev Blog series on financial health, introducing the concept of financial health and discussing new efforts to apply the concept in low- and middle-income countries.
What National Financial Inclusion Strategies have accomplished so far in the region, and what more needs to be done
News & Events
The latest news and upcoming events and training from the global financial inclusion community on this topic.