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This study examined the U.S. household financial access trends during 2012-2018 after the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Data was from a nationally representative sample (n = 2,094) of adults from the American Life Panel who completed questions from the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) in 2012 and 2018. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to examine trends across seven financial access indicators, including banked status and alternative financial services (AFS) use. Results suggest the presence of three latent statuses Low Access, Partial Access, and High Access. Only 24.5% of people in the Low Access status and 2.6% of people in the Partial Access status in 2012 transitioned into the better financial access status in 2018. Policy and practice implications to improve people's financial access are discussed.

Counterterrorism architecture has grown exponentially in the last two decades, with counterterrorism measures impacting humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and human rights action across the world. Addressing and mitigating the impact of these measures take various forms in different contexts, local and global. This article will address one particular form of engagement and redressal – that of the multi-stakeholder dialogue process – to deal with the unintended consequences for civil society of countering the financing of terrorism rules and regulations. The impact is seen in the difficulties that non-profit organizations face across the world in terms of financial access. Involving civil society, banks, government, financial intelligence, regulators, supervisors and banking associations, among others, in a dialogue process with clearly defined objectives is considered by policymakers and civil society to be the most appropriate and effective form of engagement for dealing with and overcoming this particular set of challenges. Multiple examples are provided of ongoing initiatives, with the nuances of each drawn out for a closer look at the conditions needed to sustain such dialogue, and an examination of whether such stakeholder dialogue processes are fit for purpose for solving the seemingly intractable problem at hand.

Financial inclusion is an international policy agenda and can be achieved through financially literate people, who can make informed financial decisions and improve individuals' well-being. The area of Financial Literacy and Financial Inclusion is fairly highlighted in the literature; however, the collective importance of how these two areas are researched together needs scholarly attention. This paper carries out a mapping, scientometric and content analysis by compiling studies at the intersection of financial literacy and financial inclusion from a sample of 10,091 studies spread over the last 45 years and conducted on a sample of more than 850,000 individuals worldwide. We find that the number of studies increases; by fields, Finance and Economics dominate the literature; by countries, most studies come from developed countries, in particular the US; by authors, citations are skewed and by measures; studies are moving from non-functional measures to functional measures. Overall, the interest in financial literacy in bringing financial inclusion and its multifaceted role is elaborated using conceptual framework following which future research is positioned. Thus, aiding policymakers, regulators, and academicians to know the distinction of Financial literacy in Financial inclusion and to identify the potential research areas.

There is a link between economic progress and Financial Development. In order to analyze the potential for influencing Economic Growth, this study will look at the underlying elements that drive the development of Syria’s Financial Sector. The research team is also speculating on how much Economic Growth these effects will bring. A Dynamic Linear Model that takes into account Financial Reforms and changes on the Legal System was used to analyze the Impact of Financial Development on Economic Growth between 1980 and 2018. We were able to measure many dimensions of Financial Development with the use of a new IMF Financial Development Indicator, overcoming the limits of single traditional variables that have been widely used. The ARDL Bounds Test approach, which is based on unit root tests, was used. The Error Correction Model was also applied. The country’s Financial Development had a favorable and statistically significant effect on Economic Growth in Syria in the short and long terms. A lot of factors influence Economic Growth, including the Legal System, overall Government Expenditure, and the Exchange Rate. The Supply Leading Hypothesis of Patrick (1966) was realized in Syria,hence Financial Development leads to Economic Growth, consistent with the proposal of “more Finance, more Growth” (Levine, 2003). Financial Development is a necessary condition and prerequisite for Economic Growth in Syria, which is consistent with the (Finance Lead Growth Theory). The model could be very useful in decision-making, especially those related to reform policies to promote the SDGs or to modify current policies in response to a possible global financial crisis or shock.

This study employed three different dynamic panel data estimators to empirically examine the effect of financial inclusion on poverty and income inequality for a sample of 53 developing countries between 2004 and 2017. The findings revealed a negative relationship between financial inclusion and poverty; within which availability of credit and access to deposit accounts at commercial banks tend to significantly alleviate poverty. These results support the idea that financial access, as well as financial development, contribute to reducing poverty by increasing the money supply or credit and improving the welfare of the poor. Furthermore, it was concluded that a high bank penetration rate and credit facilitate access to financial services for the poor and reduce income inequality. This result was corroborated by the bias-corrected fixed effects estimator at significance levels of 5% and 1%, respectively. Those proxy variables for financial inclusion that exert no significant effects could be explained by weak financial institutional structures, plus the need to incorporate elements of financial inclusion into a stronger framework, which would exert an effective impact on poverty and income inequality.

Although access to financing in Pakistan is expanding quickly, it is two to four times lower than regional benchmarks. Half of Pakistani adults, mostly women, do not engage with the financial system at all, and only 14 percent have access to formal services. Credit for small- and medium-size enterprises is rationed by the financial system. The formal microfinance sector reaches less than 2 percent of the poor, as opposed to more than 25 percent in neighboring countries. Yet it is the micro- and small businesses, along with remittances, that help families escape the poverty trap and participate in the economy. 'Bringing Finance to Pakistan's Poor' is based on a pioneering and comprehensive survey and dataset that measures the access to financial products by Pakistani households. The survey included 10,305 households in all areas of the country, excluding the tribal regions. The accompanying CD contains summary statistics. The authors develop a picture of access to and usage of financial services across the country and across different population groups, and they identify policy and regulatory priorities. Reform measures in Pakistan have been timely, but alone are not enough; financial institutions have lagged behind in adopting technology, segmenting customer bases, diversifying products, and simplifying processes and procedures. Gender bias and low levels of financial literacy remain barriers, as is geographical remoteness. However, the single strongest cause of low financial access is lack of income—not location, education, or even gender. 'Bringing Finance to Pakistan's Poor' will be of great interest to readers working in the areas of business and finance, economic policy, gender and rural development, and microfinance.

The research literature on the growing field of consumer financial capability displays a wide diversity of understanding about the meaning and measurement of the concept. While sufficient research literature has been produced for a review of measurement domains and indicators, this work remains undone. The aim of the study is to assess the quantitative peer-reviewed research literature to advance the field toward building an evidence base for financial capability interventions and policies to improve family financial well-being and reduce economic inequality. This scoping review study analyzed the financial capability scholarly literature between 2015 and 2018. Overall, 34 studies used quantitative data and met all inclusion criteria for this study. Findings suggest that financial capability measurement constructs were operationalized in 12 different ways (n = 22). Most commonly, financial capability was operationalized as the combination of objective financial knowledge and financial access. Few studies included measurement of financial socialization or financial well-being. Most studies measured financial access using only formal financial access measures, such as bank account ownership and/or whether the consumer has investments. A smaller number of studies measured both formal and informal access (including use of non-bank financial institutions/products). Half of the articles that included financial access used bank account either solely or in combination with other measures as the indicator(s). Many studies lacked any measure of financial access. Recommendations are made about standardizing measurement for the constructs within financial capability and measurement of financial capability.

In this paper, we examine the role of peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms in enhancing financial inclusion from the borrowers' point of view across the rural-urban dimension. We show that when number of bank branches decrease in a rural community, the P2P loan requests increase if there is at least one bank branch in the community allowing people to participate in the P2P market. We also find that the number of P2P loan requests from urban areas is higher when such areas have fewer pawnshops per capita. Our results suggest that P2P enhances financial inclusion of those lacking traditional institutions in rural communities and offers an alternative to those with fewer fringe banks in urban communities.

This study investigates the components and mechanisms of the financial capability framework using national representative data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study with the structural equation modeling approach. We find financial socialization and financial education are significantly associated with both financial access and financial literacy, which are associated with positive financial behavior and negatively associated with economic hardship. We further find that financial access plays a more pronounced role in the mediation effects decomposition compared to financial literacy. Our findings demonstrate that financial capability lies in both the opportunity to act and the ability to act—with opportunity relatively more important than ability—and that financial capability is strongly associated with household experiences of economic hardship. Policies and programs should provide accessible and affordable financial products as well as enhance effective financial education and guidance to promote financial inclusion.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the acceleration of digitization and the consideration of digital financial inclusion as a means to minimize negative economic consequences and increase the resilience of households and SMEs. The purpose of this article was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital financial inclusion by constructing and calculating an integral index of digital financial inclusion (DFI) based on Global Findex Database indicators. The approach to calculating the DFI index and two sub-indices that characterized passive participation in financial relations and active use of digital technologies was based on a linear mathematical model of the integrated indicator and on the use of the Fishburn formula to calculate the weight coefficients. The obtained results proved the acceleration of digital financial inclusion in 2021 and revealed significant differences in DFI between countries and groups of countries according to income level as well as problems of financial exclusion of the most vulnerable groups of population, especially in developing countries. The obtained results regarding the level of DFI are discussed from the point of view of COVID-19 impacts: both directly by influencing consumer behavior and decisions regarding digital financial services and from a broader perspective by influencing business entities, financial service providers, and regulation.