Today, the Economist Intelligence Unit released Microscope 2015, an annual survey that assesses how lawmakers from 55 countries are either helping or impeding financial inclusion.
The Microscope is one of the most important tools that policymakers can use to promote financial inclusion. Its transparent ranking of the policy, regulation, and environments that work — and those that don’t — provides governments with a blueprint to use in their own countries. By copying the best available laws and programs, countries can help more of the 2 billion financially excluded adults around the world access basic financial services like checking, savings, insurance, and more.
For the eighth year in a row, Peru took the #1 spot in the Microscope’s rankings. Colombia and the Philippines both retain their second- and third-place rankings, respectively. India rose to fourth place this year, and Pakistan rose to the final place in the top five. You can see the full rankings, and further analysis of each country’s performance, here.
Accion is proud to sponsor the Microscope, and we hope that regulators read and follow its recommendations.
Make sure to read the Center for Financial Inclusion’s blog post for further analysis about the results, and follow the #globalmicroscope hashtag for more discussion.