The Bank of France marked the tenth anniversary of the Observatory for Banking Inclusion (OIB), chaired by Governor François Villeroy de Galhau, with an event bringing together public authorities, banks and civil-society organisations to take stock of measures aimed at ensuring access to essential banking services and protecting financially vulnerable customers. The review highlighted 29,300 right-to-account designations in 2024 and a 42% decline in overindebtedness filings compared with 10 years ago. It also reported that 4.3 million people were identified as financially vulnerable in December 2023 (+86% versus 2015), supporting the roll-out of targeted measures including protections, caps on payment-incident fees and the “Offre Clientèle Fragile”. Banking fees linked to the accounts of financially vulnerable customers fell 32% between 2018 and 2023 (including a 25% fall in incident fees between 2019 and 2023), while microcredit outstanding reached EUR 2 billion at end-2023; the OIB also pointed to the 2022 launch of Departmental Councils for Financial Inclusion, the Bank of France’s EDUCFI financial education actions and the network of 500 state-labelled budget advice points.
Bank of France 2025-03-31
Bank of France marks 10 years of the Observatory for Banking Inclusion and reports gains in protections for financially vulnerable customers
The Bank of France marked the tenth anniversary of the Observatory for Banking Inclusion, emphasizing measures to ensure access to essential banking services and protect financially vulnerable customers. Key findings include a 42% decline in overindebtedness filings over the past decade and a 32% reduction in banking fees for vulnerable customers between 2018 and 2023. The event highlighted initiatives like the "Offre Clientèle Fragile," microcredit expansion, and the establishment of Departmental Councils for Financial Inclusion.