MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Citi, Visa Announce Launch of Financial Inclusion 2020 Initiative, to Convene Forum in London in October

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI), established in 2008 as a branch of the US-based nonprofit Accion, together with US-based financial service providers Citi and Visa, recently announced the launch of Financial Inclusion 2020 (FI2020), an initiative designed to promote increased financial access for people worldwide. The initiative will seek to widen responsible access to credit, payment tools, savings and insurance by the year 2020. ‘The goal of financial inclusion is to provide access to a range of quality financial services at affordable prices… while ensuring the right tools and protections are in place,” Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director of CFI, said. FI2020 aims to bring together governments, NGOs, and the private sector to develop a strategy for achieving this goal.

In 2011, CFI surveyed approximately 300 professionals in the industry for recommendations on increasing financial inclusion and published the results as Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion. Based on these recommendations, FI2020 is working to create a Roadmap to Financial Inclusion, to be presented at the Financial Inclusion 2020 Global Forum scheduled to take place in London on October 28-30, 2013.

By Nicole Boyd, Research Associate

About Center for Financial Inclusion
The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) was established in 2008 as a branch of the US-based nonprofit Accion to promote universal financial access. The center works to bring together relevant parties to perform research, produce publications and develop campaigns to further its goal of increasing financial inclusion. The mission of Accion is to alleviate poverty by providing financial products such as microenterprise loans and business training. As of 2011, Accion reports total assets of USD 325 million and an active loan portfolio of USD 5.5 billion serving 5.1 million borrowers.

Sources and Additional Resources:

Information sent by Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion to MicroCapital.

Microfinance Gateway. “Full Financial Inclusion by 2020,” http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.60658/FI_2020_Webinar_Invite%20FINAL.pdf

MicroCapital. January 29, 2013, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Citi, Visa Announce Launch of Financial Inclusion 2020 Initiative, to Convene Forum in London in October,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-center-for-financial-inclusion-at-accion-citi-visa-announce-launch-of-financial-inclusion-2020-initiative-to-convene-forum-in-london-in-october/

MicroCapital. January 26, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance CEO Working Group Issues Road Map for Microfinance Industry Promoting Smart Campaign, Microfinance Transparency, Social Performance Task Force,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microfinance-ceo-working-group-issues-road-map-for-microfinance-industry-promoting-smart-campaign-microfinance-transparency-social-performance-task-force/

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Center+for+Financial+Inclusion+%28CFI%29

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Visa Inc. https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Visa

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Citi Foundation https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Citi+Foundation

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