Financial Inclusion in Asia: Country Surveys

While financial inclusion is a recent term, it is clear from the country case studies in this volume that for many years governments have recognized the need to extend access to financial services. They have sought measures to promote it through public sector banks, agriculture credit programs, and micro and small enterprise credit programs. At the same time, the microfinance revolution, pioneered by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in the 1970s, focused on the reality that the formal financial system has not been successful in reaching the poor. Using peer monitoring and group-based approaches, microfinance agencies have shown that the poor are bankable and that innovative models can allow finance to benefit the poor. The narrow focus on credit has given way to a broader approach that includes micro-savings, micro-insurance, and remittance and payment transfers.