The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion published the Co-Chairs’ summary of its third Plenary Meeting in George, South Africa (11–12 September 2025), marking the final plenary under South Africa’s G20 Presidency and setting out the state of play on the 2025 deliverables. Members broadly supported the draft deliverables and backed proposed changes to the remittances workstream and the approach to assessing implementation of the G20 Action Plan on MSME Finance. On the Presidency priority of moving from access to usage of financial services, the World Bank presented an updated draft report incorporating member feedback, 2025 Global Findex data, and additional focus on women and vulnerable groups. Work on new and innovative technology for improving the quality of inclusion covered eight qualitative elements of inclusion and examined technologies and infrastructures including blockchain, Central Bank Digital Currencies, digital public infrastructure and digital identity, as well as open finance, Artificial Intelligence and related risks such as the digital divide. On remittances, the World Bank presented a simplified National Remittance Plan template and proposed moving to a three-year update cycle, which members supported. For MSME finance, discussions covered a third Action Plan webinar and an Implementation Assessment Framework combining a survey and webinars, with members supporting the International Finance Corporation recommendation to run a one-off data collection exercise in 2026 rather than a recurring reporting system. Members were asked to provide final written comments and additional country case studies after the plenary, and the Implementing Partners will publish a detailed summary of the MSME finance webinar. The incoming United States G20 Presidency indicated it would circulate an explanatory issue note in December 2025 on streamlining G20 processes and is considering whether a dedicated G20 structure is needed to advance financial inclusion, while emphasizing dialogue on financial literacy; the GPFI Co-Chairs flagged a dedicated follow-up meeting to reflect on issues raised.
GPFI 2026-01-09
Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion concludes South Africa G20 plenary endorsing streamlined national remittance plans and a one off MSME finance assessment
The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion released the Co-Chairs’ summary of its third Plenary Meeting, highlighting support for draft deliverables and changes to the remittances workstream under South Africa’s G20 Presidency. Discussions included the World Bank's updated report on financial service usage, innovative technology for inclusion, and a simplified National Remittance Plan. The incoming U.S. G20 Presidency plans to streamline processes and enhance dialogue on financial literacy.