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Financial access is used in practice and research as an important concept relevant to financial capability and financial well‐being. This study examines the literature on individual financial access and develops a conceptualization, definition, domains, and proposed items. Following a systematic conceptual review method, the review is based on 171 articles published during January 2012–August 2022 retrieved from Scopus and Dissertation and Thesis Global. Using grounded theory, data were coded related to financial access definition, concepts, measurement, and associated content. The domains identified were Mainstream Financial Products and Services, Institutional Practices of Available Mainstream Financial Service Providers, Individual Resources and Intrinsic Qualities and Abilities, and Individual Financial Action and Perceptions. Financial Products or Services Utilized by Social Programs to Provide Benefits was added. Study implications include the need to broaden the focus of policies and practices beyond ownership of financial products and services. Directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employed the Bayesian method to investigate the impact of government spending, financial development (measured by bank credit), and trade on income inequality reduction in 66 low‐income countries (LICs) across Africa, Asia, America, and Europe from 2000 to 2018. Controlling inflation and unemployment, our results indicate that trade and inflation exacerbate income inequality in LICs, while financial development and government spending have no impact on reducing income inequality in these countries. Furthermore, the findings show that real GDP per capita reduces income inequality in LICs. To ensure the robustness of our results, we also conducted frequentist quantile regression, which yielded consistent findings that financial development, government spending, and trade do not reduce income inequality in LICs. We further discuss the potential channels through which trade, financial development, inflation, and government spending contribute to income inequality in LICs, and provide policy implications based on the empirical evidence. Related Articles: Adegboye, Alex, Kofo Adegboye, Uwalomwa Uwuigbe, Stephen Ojeka, and Eyitemi Fasanu. 2023. "Taxation, Democracy, and Inequality in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Relevant Linkages for Sustainable Development Goals." Politics & Policy 51(4): 696–722. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12547. Asongu, Simplice, and Nicholas M. Odhiambo. 2023. "The Effect of Inequality on Poverty and Severity of Poverty in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Role of Financial Development Institutions." Politics & Policy 51(5): 898–918. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12558. Polacko, Matthew. 2023. "Turning Off the Base: Social Democracy's Neoliberal Turn, Income Inequality, and Turnout." Politics & Policy 51(4): 538–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12550. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The study measured the Internet Financial Reporting (IFR) disclosure index and compared the results across three continents of the global e‐commerce business. In addition, it documents various social media platforms used by e‐commerce. We use content analysis with a scoring matrix based on content, timeliness, technology, and support used in websites and a one‐way ANOVA. The findings identified an average IFR e‐commerce disclosure index of 0.735, which is of good quality as it approaches the value of 1. There is no difference in index IFR between the three continental zones overall, but slightly different from non‐e‐commerce companies. The results also prove that websites and blog media still dominate the use of social media, while other social media platforms have not provided financial information. Researchers in accounting have not conducted research topics on social media, so there are still limited references and narrow analytical content. This research will interest the e‐commerce business industry and compile their financial reporting through the website to improve the quality of their IFR and financial access. Since the e‐commerce business is an internet‐based company growing significantly, it can use other social media to reveal its reporting as decent work and economic growth. This subject is relatively innovative because none of the IFR disclosure index studies focuses on e‐commerce businesses on social media. It fills the research gap related to the characteristics of e‐commerce businesses, where almost all activities are internet‐based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective finance is a finance system that assures individuals and families of having beneficial access to financial services and skills. It is a precondition for financial well‐being. Drawing upon a low‐income sample (N = 1473) from the 2016 National Financial Well‐Being Survey, this study examines whether financial skills and financial access are associated with financial well‐being and material hardship. The results identify positive interactions between financial access and financial skills on financial well‐being. The findings point to effective finance policies that have the potential to reduce material hardship and support financial well‐being for low‐income families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In achieving a desirable sustainable economic growth in developing countries, the role of financial development and international migrant remittances cannot be underplayed. This study attempts to investigate the dynamic interactions between the migrant remittances and the financial sector development from a multidimensional perspective in 22 sub-Sahara African countries using a panel vector autoregression model over the period 2004-2017. Specifically, the study focuses on the multidimensions of financial development including financial depth, financial access, and financial efficiency in financial institutions (FI) and their relationship with the remittances. The findings suggest that: First, the migrant's remittances are detrimental for the overall FI while the FI are found to positively influence the remittances inflows. Second, the relationship between the remittances and the FI varies with the dimensions of FI. There is a positive dynamic interaction between the remittances, the financial efficiency, and financial access, except for the financial depth. The analysis in this investigation offers relevant policy directives especially on the role of remittances in building stable FI of the sub-Saharan African economies and other developing states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the fully banked population is related to the availability of affordable bank accounts. This study investigates the factors that are associated with bank response to voluntary national bank account standards for an affordable transaction account. We also examine the degree to which account information is available from bank websites. Account feature data were collected from public bank websites and bank tellers (N = 108) in a mid‐western metropolitan area. Results suggest that most banks offer an account that meets the majority of the standards. On average, bank websites are missing information about eight (44%) of the voluntary standards. There is weak evidence to suggest that bank asset size is associated both with the number of standards met and the numbers of standards about which a viewer cannot assess from information on their website. Practice and policy implications of the voluntary standards on the availability of affordable transaction accounts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the role of peer‐to‐peer (P2P) platforms in enhancing financial inclusion from the borrowers' point of view across the rural–urban dimension. We show that when number of bank branches decrease in a rural community, the P2P loan requests increase if there is at least one bank branch in the community allowing people to participate in the P2P market. We also find that the number of P2P loan requests from urban areas is higher when such areas have fewer pawnshops per capita. Our results suggest that P2P enhances financial inclusion of those lacking traditional institutions in rural communities and offers an alternative to those with fewer fringe banks in urban communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides evidence of horizontal inequity in the distribution of the burden and benefits of healthcare in north‐western Ghana. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse the data on variation in perceptions of affordability of health services to rural and urban populations in the Jirapa Municipality of Ghana. The article argues that costs of transportation, food and lodging associated with seeking healthcare at the municipal referral hospital are disproportionately higher for rural residents. This leads to delayed medical treatment, self‐medication or reliance on traditional medicines, all of which can come with harmful consequences. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses survey data of over 22 000 respondents in Nigeria, to provide evidence for the impact of two key drivers of financial inclusion: financial literacy and income levels. The study shows that financial literacy significantly determines savings patterns with formal and informal financial institutions; however, income only drives the frequency of informal savings. The results also highlight the demographic groups suitable for financial literacy and other interventions aimed at improving financial access. The findings will support the market segmentation capabilities of financial services providers and also guide regulators in formulating policies that will improve and deepen financial access. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the effects of offering access to a savings account to a sample of poor women on the educational attainment of their children and on the educational aspirations and expectations they have for them. Using data from a field experiment in Nepal that randomized access to savings accounts among a largely unbanked population, we provide evidence that financial access increased the schooling level of daughters and the educational aspirations and expectations parents have for them. Wealth and female empowerment do not seem to be behind our findings. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of theoretical framework of financial capability, this study investigates the roles of financial access and financial knowledge in savings and asset accumulation for children's postsecondary education. We use data from SEED for Oklahoma Kids ( N =2,704), a statewide policy experiment offering Child Development Accounts (CDAs) to treatment participants. This study employs quantile regressions with two dependent variables: savings amount (net deposits made by caregivers of children) and total asset amount (the sum of savings, financial incentives offered by the experiment, and investment earnings). Results identify positive and statistically significant interactions between treatment status and financial knowledge, suggesting that access to CDAs moderates the association between financial knowledge and asset accumulation. Providing empirical support for the theory of financial capability, the findings call for interventions that enhance financial knowledge, expand financial access, and improve asset accumulation for all children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of migrant remittances to foster access to financial services for low-income households has been largely unexplored. Comparing three Latin American countries - the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Mexico - this inter-disciplinary study links research on remittances and microfinance with multi-actor governance approaches. While the context of high remittance-dependence provides similar challenges in all cases, it finds remarkable variety both in the structure of the remittances market and the actors involved in microfinance and in the role governments play. It explains the diverging success of MFIs in remittance markets by pointing to the interplay of for-profit, non-profit and state actors embedded within the specific market structures of each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy emphasis on financial-sector development has shifted away from microfinance and towards the development of 'inclusive financial markets'. But, for inclusion to take place, policy must address barriers to access. This article analyses the socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors associated with financial-service use across formal, semi-formal and informal financial services in Kenya between 2006 and 2009, including the new and rapidly growing mobile-phone-based payments service - M-PESA. It finds that, despite an expansion of services, evidence of access barriers is now clearer than it was in 2006. However, there is some evidence that M-PESA is reversing age as a barrier to inclusion, but, as yet, it is more of a complement than a substitute for formal services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) approved only three ‘health systems strengthening’ projects ever, one of them in Rwanda. This project intends to enhance financial access to health care by subsidising health insurance for the poor in order to combat the three diseases successfully. It was submitted to a mid-term evaluation in 2007. The findings of this evaluation are presented and triangulated with experience gained through several years of membership in the Rwandan Country Coordinating Mechanism and the multi-stakeholder ‘Working Group on Mutuelles’: The GFATM-funded project improved dramatically the financial access of its target group, the very poor – reaching approximately one Rwandan in six. Because of the established rigid regulatory framework, its impact on other population strata was more ambiguous. Improved financial access went hand-in-hand with growing health service utilisation and improvements in the population’s health status, including better control of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This success was achieved with limited financial resources. In consequence, interventions that strengthen health systems should always be considered for a prominent – if not a priority role – in GFATM-funded projects. El Fondo Mundial de Lucha contra el SIDA, la Tuberculosis y la Malaria (FMLSTM) ha aprobado solo tres proyectos de “sistemas de fortalecimiento sanitario” en su historia, uno de ellos en Ruanda. Este proyecto busca aumentar el acceso financiero a los cuidados sanitarios mediante el subsidio de seguros sanitarios para los pobres, con el fin de combatir las tres enfermedades de forma exitosa. Se realizó la evaluación intermedia en el 2007. Los hallazgos de dicha evaluación son presentados y triangulados con la experiencia adquirida tras varios años de pertenecer al Centro de Manejo de Conflictos de Ruanda (CCM) y al grupo de trabajo de “ Mutuelles”: El proyecto financiado por la FMLSTM mejoró dramáticamente el acceso financiero al grupo diana: los más pobres – alcanzando aproximadamente uno de cada seis Ruandeses. Debido a la rigidez del marco regulatorio establecido, su impacto sobre otros estratos de la población fue ambiguo. La mejora del acceso financiero fue de la mano con un aumento en la utilización del servicio sanitario y mejoras en el estatus de la salud de la población, incluyendo un mejor control del SIDA, la tuberculosis y la malaria. Este éxito se alcanzó con recursos financieros limitados. En consecuencia, las intervenciones que fortalecen los sistemas sanitarios deberían siempre ser tenidas en cuenta como una parte importante – sino prioritaria – de los proyectos financiados por el FMLSTM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]