The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion published the co-chairs’ summary of its first in-person plenary meeting under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, confirming a 2025 work plan with three deliverables: a diagnostic study with policy recommendations on moving from access to usage of financial products and services, an implementation framework for the G20 Action Plan on MSME Finance, and a report mapping new and innovative technologies that can advance the access, use and quality of financial inclusion for individuals and MSMEs. Work on the access-to-usage deliverable, led by the World Bank with AFI, BTCA and WWB, is expected to build a quantitative framework using demand-side and supply-side data to identify why usage lags behind account ownership, against a backdrop where 1.4 billion people still lack a bank account due to factors including cost, documentation, physical access and trust. The MSME finance deliverable will centre on a voluntary structured survey spanning credit infrastructure, diversification of financing sources, use of fintech technologies and risk management, complemented by qualitative questions and webinars, with outputs consolidated into a summary report. Beyond these priorities, the GPFI noted ongoing work on remittances, including a planned simplification of the National Remittance Plans template and a timeline targeting a Leaders’ report by 25 September 2025, country submissions by 1 November 2025 and publication by 15 November 2025, alongside updates from the Financial Action Task Force on revised AML/CFT guidance for financial inclusion, including revisions focused on Recommendation 16 to reflect evolving payment business models and clarify roles in payment processes. Next steps include country completion of the MSME finance questionnaires by the end of 2025, delivery of at least two webinars, and member comment periods on draft documents, including the outline report on digital identity, instant payments, regtech and suptech, data sharing and artificial intelligence applications, and blockchain, which is expected to be informed by stakeholder interviews and to assess related risks such as data misuse and privacy breaches.
GPFI 2025-05-16
Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion sets 2025 deliverables on access-to-usage, MSME finance implementation and digital inclusion technologies
The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion released the co-chairs’ summary of its first plenary meeting under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, outlining a 2025 work plan with three key deliverables: a diagnostic study on financial product usage, an implementation framework for the G20 Action Plan on MSME Finance, and a report on innovative technologies for financial inclusion. The plan includes a quantitative framework to address usage gaps, a structured survey on MSME finance, and ongoing efforts on remittances and AML/CFT guidance updates.