Challenge
There have been increasing numbers of initiatives from different institutions and organizations promoting youth access to finance around the world, with new practices and innovations in the youth financial inclusion sphere. Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, FMO, seeks to enhance its understanding of the current youth financial inclusion sphere so the institution can better contribute to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 10) — which focuses on reducing inequalities — and address gaps in youth finance.
Solution
To address this knowledge gap, FMO asked Making Cents to conduct a global assessment of youth financial inclusion initiatives led by financial service providers, private-sector companies, non-governmental organizations, and other actors. The assessment aimed to increase FMO’s understanding of opportunities in the youth financial inclusion space, contribute to their youth financial inclusion support, and enhance innovations and initiatives in the space.
Making Cents produced a State of the Field compendium synthesizing global good practices for providing financial and non-financial services to youth as well as recommendations and tools that FMO can implement with its financial institution partners to meaningfully engage in the youth financial inclusion space. Five deliverables were produced, including:
- A synthesis of global best practices and a document summarizing best practices in youth inclusive finance from past cases and research.
- An interactive ArcGIS StoryMap of 22 case studies featuring global youth finance initiatives, collected in partnership with MicroSave Consulting. The map highlights a variety of recent youth finance initiatives led by banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and NGOs. The initiatives include examples of innovative financial and non-financial services designed to meet youth demand for savings, credit, and insurance products. Each initiative includes a detailed description of its goals, product development process, lessons learned, and recommendations for future implementation. This StoryMap is featured on FMO’s main site and includes examples of a variety of products and partnership models. These cases also informed the lessons learned included in the compendium and the interactive map is meant to provide stakeholders with a sampling of multiple ways that youth might be reached with financial and non-financial services.
- A Compendium of Global Good Practices designed to provide stakeholders with a “State of the Field” and practical tools to develop services. This compendium includes five parts, including understanding youth and the state of financial inclusion, the product development cycle, considerations and strategies for serving youth, recommendations for financial service providers (FSPs) and FMO, and tools and personas.
- A Synopsis of the Compendium of Global Good Practices for casual stakeholders that could be easily skimmed to glean information on top line issues and lessons learned.
- Youth Personas meant to reflect the diversity of youth and youth demand for financial services, are included in the annex of the compendium and available as a stand-alone product.
These deliverables provide a window into youth financial service practices and support FMO in meaningfully contributing to the space.