By Edwin López Rivera
Inclusion and financial education have emerged as key enabling for sustainable development in their environmental, social and productive dimensions. In Latin America, where high levels of informality, inequality and financial exclusion persist, its promotion becomes urgent and strategic. These elements not only facilitate access to basic financial services, but also strengthen the economic resilience of households and companies, promote formalization and contribute to reducing the structural gaps that characterize the region.
Latin America presents significant heterogeneity regarding inclusion and financial education. While countries such as Chile and Uruguay have made notable advances thanks to solid regulatory frameworks and greater banking penetration, others such as Colombia and Panama still face important gaps, especially in rural areas and between microentrepreneurs. In Colombia, despite initiatives such as the National Policy of Economic and Financial Education and Government Programs such as the Banking of Opportunities, a high dependence on different forms of informal credit persists, such as those known as loans “drop by drop”, with interest rates that exceed 300% per year. According to the National Statistics Department, 51% of microentrepreneurs do not have formal savings or credit products.
Chile, on the other hand, stands out for its digital payment system and the Cuentarut program, a sight deposit account that includes a debit card without a maintenance or opening cost, which has banked millions of people. However, financial education is still incipient. Panama registers a high nominal financial inclusion, but with shallow credit products for SMEs and vulnerable populations. Uruguay, with one of the highest banking rates in the region, has successfully implemented financial education programs in schools and through digital platforms.
Financial innovation has been promoted by Fintech technology and public-private alliances. Among the most relevant trends are digital wallets and bank correspondents that have expanded access to financial services in remote areas, microcredits with alternative scoring that use information from non -traditional sources such as non -financial transactions to assess the risk.
Despite these advances, financial education is still weak. In Colombia according to a study promoted by Asobancaria, more than 40% of vendors in Bogotá market places are unaware of basic concepts such as the usura rate. This knowledge gap persists even with innovative initiatives promoted by banks in Colombia that offer online courses and promotes child savings. In other countries in the region, innovative strategies such as Gamified Financial Education platforms have been promoted, such as the Capuf video game «Learn and Emprende» in Uruguay, available for free or the EFC Program in this same country, which incorporates financial education in the school and adult curriculum. In Chile, the “National Financial Education Plan” has managed to train more than 2 million people through alliances with public and private institutions, to which traditional strategies such as the realization of fairs, workshops and competitions that combine mass dissemination with practical learning are added. These efforts, although significant, still face important challenges to effectively connect the educational offer and the specific needs of groups such as informal merchants, requiring more focused and greater continuity strategies.
Precisely to address these limitations effectively, it is essential to have robust and detailed data. The availability of disaggregated information is crucial because it allows precisely identifying the specific gaps that affect each population, as well as results indicators that measure not only access, but also the effective use and quality of services.
A behavioral approach that understands biases such as the aversion to loss, short -term and distrust is essential, together with an ecosystem of choice that facilitates the understanding and use of financial products. It is also crucial to overcome regulatory obstacles, such as the lack of Open Data strategies and maximum interest rates that limit access to the credit of high -risk populations.
Multilateral banking plays a crucial role in promoting financial inclusion and education policies and coordination with governments to promote priority actions is necessary. These include the creation of guarantee funds that reduce the risk of loans to SMEs and vulnerable sectors, the issuance of social impact bonds to finance financial education programs with measurable goals, and the formation of alliances with Fintechs to develop scalable and low -cost products. It is also essential to facilitate concessional lines aimed at microfinance institutions that meet excluded populations.
Development banking in the region must work with governments to harmonize standards for products to be comparable and transferable between countries, finance innovative product pilots with rigorous impact evaluation, strengthen local capacities in financial entities and governments, and mobilize private capital through combined financing mechanisms and partial guarantees. The experience of multilateral banking can also be used to promote innovative products such as green loans for energy efficiency and productive reconversion, parametric insurance for farmers, chain financing based on commercial records, and microfinance platforms for socio -environmental projects.
Inclusion and financial education are not only a means to access credit, but a transverse enabling of sustainable development. They allow SMEs to innovate, to families manage risks and communities in general transit to low carbon economies. Latin America countries have the opportunity to lead this process through coordinated policies, productive innovation and a long -term vision that prioritizes the well -being of people and the planet.
Edwin López Rivera is an associate professor at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University. Coeditor of the book, “the accounts of Colombian federalism.” Currently PHD candidate at the University of California, San Diego.
