The Banking Executive Magazine - February 2022

The Horizon Of Digital Financial Inclusion In Arab Banks INTRODUCTION This article explores the horizon of digital financial inclusion in Arab banks. It presents a comprehensive overview of financial inclusion and its historical evolution towards digi- tal financial inclusion, highlighting the essential components of digital fi- nancial inclusion and the entailed benefits and risks, the related regula- tions and needed supervision, the importance, and business models. The article reviews technologies to enhance digital financial inclusion. The article also shed lights on statis- tics about the digital divide in the Arab world and draws attention to the importance of bridging the digital divide gap and enhancing digital fi- nancial inclusion. The article refer- ences views and perspectives from the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU), the world bank, the G20, the G20 Global Partnership for Fi- nancial Inclusion (GPFI), as well as high level professional and academic resources about digital financial in- clusion such as finextra, the Interna- tional Banker, business insider and the Arab Barometer. The article con- cludes with efforts to enhance digital financial inclusion in Arab banks and bridge the digital divide gap. FINANCIAL INCLUSION In Wikipedia, financial inclusion is defined as the availability and equal- ity of opportunities to access finan- cial services. It refers to a process by the BANKING EXECUTIVE 40 ISSUE 158 FEBRUARY 2022 THE HORIZON OF DIGITAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN ARAB BANKS