This book discusses ideas for stakeholders to develop strategies to access and use financial products and services such as deposits, loans, and fund transfer mechanism, insurance, payment services, and intermediaries, distribution channels at economical prices in order to cater to the needs of the poor and underprivileged people. Financial inclusion ensures ease of access, availability, and usage of the financial products and services to all the sections of the society. The book will help in recognizing the role of financial inclusion as one of the main drivers in reducing income inequality and thus supporting sustainable economic growth of the countries, especially of an emerging economy. The book provides conceptual and practical ideas from the practitioners, best practices from the experts, and empirical views from the researchers on the best practices and how to mitigate the challenges and issues plaguing the development of the financial inclusion.

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

This edited volume of International Finance Review examines the rising challenges facing emerging financial markets and institutions. It provides significant insight and policy implications on topics including global banking, risk and contagion, stock market behaviour, financial inclusion in the major emerging economies, and more.

This book discusses ideas for stakeholders to develop strategies for the access and use of financial products and services such as deposits, loans, and fund transfer mechanism, insurance, payment services, and intermediaries, distribution channels at economical prices in order to cater to the needs of the poor and underprivileged people. The level of economic activities determines the growth and sustainability of an economy. The availability of financial resources, investment, demand, and supply of goods and services leads to the sustainable growth of an economy. Financial inclusion ensures ease of access, availability, and usage of the formal financial system, product, and services for all members, especially of an emerging economy. The book provides conceptual and practical ideas from the practitioners, best practices from the experts, and empirical views from the researchers to frame policies, guidelines, strategic planning, and designing initiatives and activities and also to set directions for future research. Dr. Ananda Suryanarayana is currently Director of Postgraduate Studies and Research Department at College of Banking & Financial Studies, Oman. He has 29 years of expertise in the area of management education. He has also served in Mutual Fund Industry for about four years. Dr. Dharmendra Singh is teaching at Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS), Oman. He has more than 19 years of experience in teaching Finance and Accounting courses. .

Technology is changing the landscape of the financial sector, increasing access to financial services in profound ways. These changes have been in motion for several years, affecting nearly all countries in the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has created new opportunities for digital financial services to accelerate and enhance financial inclusion, amid social distancing and containment measures. At the same time, the risks emerging prior to COVID-19, as digital financial services developed, are becoming even more relevant.

This volume presents a comprehensive analysis of the business, financial and economic aspects of emerging markets. Using case studies from India, Turkey, Bangladesh and Africa, it discusses themes such as megaprojects, infrastructure and sustainability; cross-border mergers and acquisitions; a new paradigm for educational markets; exports competitiveness; work engagement in service sector; mobile banking and crowdfunding; and venture capital flow into emerging economies, to focus on the trade, foreign investment, financial, and social progress of these economies. The chapters review the current state, learnings, changing scenarios, business practices, and financial and economic perspectives across emerging markets while examining progression, challenges and the way forward. With its rigorous approach and topical content, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of management studies, business management, financial management, business economics, international business, finance and marketing, development studies and economics. It will also interest policymakers and practitioners in the field.

From vehicles to music, power generation to retail, every aspect of our daily routine has experienced drastic changes in the recent past, driven by secular forces such as digitization, a growing focus on sustainability, regulatory changes and evolving consumer behavior. Financial services are no exception. A paradigm change is at play in the financial sector, with a surge in competition from non-traditional actors, a revolution in customer experience evidenced by rising transparency and customer-centric strategies. FinTech is disrupting financial services, providing a historic opportunity for formally underserved customers, a formidable threat to existing banks and a critical challenge to regulators. Through the lens of FinTech (financial technology) — including payments, lending platforms, insurtech, superapps and market infrastructure — the author highlights the practical policy opportunities and risks of financial inclusion with a wealth of data.This book tells the story of entrepreneurs, companies, investors, researchers and regulators who are building the financial services of tomorrow and the mechanisms that will allow us as a society to fulfill the promise of inclusion. There are still challenges to overcome, particularly high levels of informality, subpar quality in financial services, and low levels of financial education. Regulators play a crucial role to foster inclusion, proposing sandboxes and stepping up their efforts against risks triggered by technology such as monopolistic behavior, consumer protection and cybercrime.Finance with a Purpose combines the theory in the fields of economics, finance and law with the practice of financial institutions, corporates, households and investors. By combining the latest academic research with ample professional experience in emerging markets, this book is essential for policymakers, scholars, and any reader who wants to understand the recent progress in financial inclusion and how it can be used to alleviate inequality and foster economic development.