Financial Access 2009: Measuring Access to Financial Services around the World

October, 2009     CGAP

Financial inclusion—providing access to financial services for all-- has gained prominence in the past few years as a policy objective for national policymakers, multilateral institutions, and others in the development field.

Building on this work, Financial Access 2009 introduces new data from a survey of financial regulators in 139 countries. It presents indicators of access to savings, credit, and payment services in banks and in regulated nonbank financial institutions reviewing some policy initiatives that support financial inclusion. As the first in an annual series documenting access to financial services around the world, it is intended for a broad audience of policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and multilateral and bilateral investors.