About the review
Financial inclusion is an important feature of a modern financial system. It promotes a sustainable and productive economy and supports the prosperity and wellbeing of its people.
This thematic review is an exploratory research exercise that seeks to better understand financial inclusion practices in our deposit taking sector. It also aims to gather insights into good practice and will provide input into our other work streams relating to financial inclusion and participation.
Objective of the review
The objective of the review is to understand the financial inclusion landscape across our deposit taking sector. We plan to do this by undertaking a stocktake of initiatives and practices that support the access to financial products and services by:
- retail customers
- small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs)
- not-for-profit organisations (NFPs).
Approach to the review
The review runs in two phases from May to December 2024.
Phase 1
This includes desk-based research to collect quantitative and qualitative data from internal sources and publicly available information.
Phase 2
This involves meeting with participating entities to discuss the following in respect to their financial inclusion practices:
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strategy and initiatives
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policies and practices to support initiatives
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challenges faced and opportunities to foster inclusion.
We are also undertaking a short survey after the engagement phase to understand the data collected by entities on their product offering and customer demographic.
Sample
The sample for the thematic review comprises a mix of banks and non-bank deposit taking entities of varying size and nature of business. Participation is voluntary.
Reporting
We will publish a short report outlining the key insights from the thematic review once it is complete. Entities involved in the thematic will not be individually identified in the report.
We will not provide any specific feedback to participating entities given the exploratory nature of this review, but will engage as appropriate to discuss our findings.
Timeline
The thematic review is planned to be completed by December 2024.