Financial sector authorities started to develop National Financial Inclusion Strategies (NFIS) in the early 2000s. Today, they remain a key policy tool to expand financial inclusion through collaboration between public and private stakeholders.
But NFIS are not only about broadening access—they also provide a window into how countries are approaching responsible finance. By looking at what different NFIS prioritize, from consumer protection and financial education to digital finance risks and financial health, we can see how financial inclusion strategies are beginning to shape safer, fairer, and more responsible financial ecosystems.
To better understand how they do this, CGAP reviewed 59 recent NFIS. Our findings provide five key insights on what NFIS can tell us about responsible finance.
1. Almost every NFIS reviewed puts significant emphasis on financial consumer protection
In fact, 58 of the 59 strategies reviewed discussed consumer protection, and 73% of the strategies listed consumer protection as a key pillar or objective. The first pillar of Niger’s NFIS says, “Support for structuring demand, financial education and protection of members and clients of financial service providers.” One of Mexico’s strategy pillars is, “Greater confidence in the formal financial system through consumer protection mechanisms.” This data confirms AFI’s findings from its 2022 report which stated that 96% of NFIS launched by its members between 2018 and 2022 listed consumer protection as a key policy area.
2. Financial education is also a key theme in nearly every NFIS we looked at
Like consumer protection, the theme of financial education (and financial literacy – one of its possible outcomes) was present in 98% of the reviewed NFIS, again corroborating what AFI found in 2022 (financial education was present in 93% of its members’ NFIS). More than half of the NFIS we reviewed discussed financial education in their consumer protection sections. In fact, 18 NFIS explicitly combined financial education and consumer protection within their core sections, strategic objectives, or pillars. Pakistan’s NFIS underscores this connection, emphasizing that, “the nexus between financial inclusion, financial literacy, and consumer protection plays a key role in promoting access and usage of quality financial services.”
3. Almost all NFIS reviewed acknowledged the opportunities of digital financial services (DFS), some also acknowledged the risks
While nearly all the NFIS (97%) we reviewed acknowledged the power of DFS to accelerate financial inclusion, only a minority discussed how DFS can also pose a range of risks to users. For example,
- Fraud: Malawi’s strategy states that, “While DFS offers a convenient and cost-effective way of accessing and using financial products and services, it is also exposed to the risk of fraud.
- Lack of transparency: Samoa highlights that “With the expansion of digital financial services and as consumers increasingly engage with formal financial services, they run the risk of unfair practices such as non-transparency and non-disclosure of pricing and other terms and conditions.”
- Data misuse: India’s NFIS discusses how “…storing and sharing of customer’s biometric and demographic data, adequate safeguards need to be ensured to protect the customer’s Right to Privacy.”
- Network downtime: Philippines states that, “In DFS, further gains can be achieved if the country’s internet connectivity improves.”
4. A minority of NFIS reviewed focus on financial health
Financial health (also often called financial well-being) is gaining traction in NFIS. Of the strategies we reviewed for this exercise, 14 (24%) mentioned financial health or well-being; five of those (Malaysia, Eswatini, Zambia, Pakistan, and Tanzania) mentioned financial health in their NFIS vision. While there are connections between financial consumer protection and financial health, only two NFIS (Jordan and the U.S.) connect them explicitly. The U.S., which launched its first-ever NFIS in 2024, states, “As more consumers gain access to the mainstream financial system, it is important to ensure that they are protected from financial products and services that may harm their financial well-being.” Six countries discuss methods of measuring financial health in their strategies (the U.S., South Africa, Jordan, Philippines, Brazil, and Eswatini). The Central Bank of Jordan measured financial health for three years via an electronic survey based on “The FinHealth Score® Toolkit”.
5. The NFIS reviewed enhance collaboration among key actors in the financial ecosystem
A recurring theme in the NFIS we reviewed was collaboration, especially regarding implementation of the strategies. More than half of the reviewed strategies include reference to some type of coordination or collaboration structure, such as a national financial inclusion council, steering committee, or task force. Guatemala explicitly highlights 103 contributing entities (both public and private) involved in the formulation and implementation of their NFIS. Both Samoa and the Solomon Islands boast National Financial Inclusion Taskforces that include business leaders such as the CEOs of financial service providers.
How can new NFIS further support responsible digital finance ecosystems?
Strengthening consumer protection within NFIS—through collaboration with key stakeholders—ensures that financial inclusion delivers real, positive change, not just wider access. As digital finance becomes the norm, financial sector authorities must monitor the actual experiences of consumers using digital financial services. By sharpening the diagnostic phase of NFIS to identify and address consumer risks, authorities can unlock powerful insights that can become a basis for targeted, effective actions. National consumer surveys, like those conducted by Innovation for Poverty Action and CGAP, offer a proven way to gather representative data, track progress, and shape responsive action plans.
With the rise of consumer data and AI in financial services, new providers are rapidly joining the ecosystem—and their involvement in designing consumer protection strategies is essential. NFIS should assess the readiness of all key actors to ensure safe financial journeys for consumers, using this as a foundation for robust action plans. Ultimately, building a responsible financial ecosystem means measuring what matters: do financial services truly meet users’ needs and help them improve their lives and financial health? By putting consumer outcomes at the heart of NFIS, we can ensure that financial inclusion goes well beyond access and contributes to individual and societal development.
