Financial inclusion, and credit unions’ mission to offer access for everyone

According to CUNA’s Abigail Truhart’s piece in CUNA News recently, the beating heart of the credit union movement and mission is standing up to inequities through financial inclusion.

That message should be trumpeted often, and for good reason. Financial inclusion is a practical and effective strategy in the financial services industry, however we have a long way to go. Many gaps still remain when it comes to enhancing financial inclusion for communities. According to Findex, approximately 1.7 billion adults around the world remain unbanked.

Despite those economic challenges confronting us, just as economic growth has drastically reduced global poverty rates, ever-present, affordable, and connected financial technology has the potential to dramatically reduce rates of the underserved. At this point in 2022, it’s up to the credit union industry to take the necessary and innovative steps to make that happen. For many cooperatives, it’s a matter of thinking differently about the challenge, and then onboarding the appropriate solutions to address those product or service issues.

 

continue reading »