While over 1.7 billion adults across the globe lack access to financial services, the increased digitisation and innovation of financial services and a rise in mobile platforms has led to an increase of financial inclusion across Asia. Financial service providers such as Kim An Group and Gopay are working to link MSMEs to credit and connect the unbanked and the underbanked to financial services.
While the financial inclusion sector continues to grow, it requires substantial capital in order to fully democratize access to financial services. To increase the capital moving towards this sector, impact investors require detailed impact metrics to standardize, analyse and compare impact performance outcomes in order to overcome the challenge of “impact washing” and deliver affordable, relevant and responsible products.
This webinar explored investments in financial inclusion as we heard the investor perspective and showcased social entrepreneurs working to connect the last mile with financial services. In addition, GIIN shared the learnings from the recently released report Understanding Impact Performance: Financial Inclusion Investments to provide a foundation to understand the impact results of financial inclusion investments using the IRIS+ system.
Key Objectives:
- Explored how funds can support social entrepreneurs supporting financial inclusion in Asia
- Heared from social entrepreneurs on challenges and opportunities in the region
- Gained an understanding of the impact metric frameworks measuring outcomes in financial inclusion using the IRIS+ system
- Learned from an investor’s perspective on planning and executing successful exits
