In 2009, FAI founder Jonathan Morduch was part of a group that determined “half the world is unbanked.” Ten years later, the latest Global Findex tells us that the world’s unbanked population has been nearly cut in half. A combination of focused public and private efforts, aided by technology advances, yielded massive, though uneven, progress.
It’s worth celebrating the gains, but also reflecting on what is still left to do. What lessons have we learned from the last 20 years that can close the rest of the inclusion gap? Why has inclusion in wealthier countries stalled? What does the inclusion agenda leave undone? How can technology be part of building more bridges to excluded communities?
This edition of the faiVLive will be based on a new report from the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program, Building An Inclusive Financial System, that tackles those questions and more. Join our panelists to discuss where we go from here, and how actors from across the spectrum can help ensure that financial systems play a positive role in reducing poverty and vulnerability, and boost inclusive growth.
Register here for the webinar on September 22 at 9am ET.
Featuring:
Payal Dalal, Senior Vice President of Social Impact, International Markets, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
Mayada El-Zoghbi, Managing Director, Center for Financial Inclusion
Indradeep Ghosh, Executive Director, Dvara Research
Rashmi Pillai, CEO and Executive Director, FSD Uganda
Ida Rademacher, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program
Moderator:
Timothy Ogden, Managing Director, Financial Access Initiative at NYU Wagner
You can register here for the next faiVLive, presented jointly with the Aspen Financial Security Program and is part of the Household Financial Security Insight Community, in collaboration with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

Editor’s Note: I’m going to assume that you are seeing plenty of AI content (news and papers, not AI slop, though I’m sure you’re getting plenty of that too) from other sources, so I’m trying to think hard about the marginal value that the faiV can provide. As far as I’ve gotten so far: a) make sure that directly AI-related content does not take up more than 2 of the 5 items, and b) try to focus specifically on the cybersecurity issue for financial inclusion. Beyond that, I’m open to feedback on the value you get from the faiV in relation to AI to help guide us in the future. On a different note, I’ll be making a brief cameo appearance at the e-MFP Inclusive Finance Conference to moderate the opening plenary. If you haven’t registered, do so and I hope to see you there! - Tim Ogden