In Southeast Asia, financial inclusion and fintech underpin Southeast Asia’s economic progress. Data on both are available, but often incomplete. Some data sources, especially in the fintech space, are also limited in coverage. Many are conducted on a one-off basis, precluding comparisons over time.
Building on our existing Digital Financial Service Report, this Digital Financial Inclusion compendium collates and reviews databases useful in financial inclusion research. The intention of this effort is to be a resource to researchers navigating the landscape of available data sources.
The compendium includes:
- two global databases: Global Findex and the Financial Access Survey,
- two indices: Digital Adoption Index and Digital Intelligence Index, and
- one digital gender gap database: Digital Gender Gap.
Financial inclusion research will continue to evolve. Thus, this effort serves merely as a starting point for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders who are interested in this area. We welcome recommendations of other data sources relevant to this topic, as well as suggestions for other fields of interest at the intersection of technology, policy and society.
