The Banking Executive Magazine - February 2022

The Horizon Of Digital Financial Inclusion In Arab Banks prove to be significant predictors. As educational levels and income de- crease, the propensity of an individ- ual to be online decreases as well. Interestingly, though a cursory look at simple proportions shows a corre- lation between respondents’ settle- ment type and whether they are internet users, this analysis suggests that such a trend could be due to the effects of confounding variables like education or income. TOWARDS ENHANCED DIGITAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN ARAB BANKS Financial Inclusion for the Arab Re- gion Initiative (FIARI) is a regional platform created amid growing de- mand from member institutions from the Arab Region for tailored solutions to regional financial inclusion issues. It was launched by the Arab Mone- tary Fund (AMF), German Interna- tional Cooperation (GIZ), and AFI at the 2017 Global Policy Forum (GPF) and later joined by the World Bank as a technical partner. The initiative aims to accelerate poli- cies and actions that enhance access to financial services in the Arab re- gion through effective coordination mechanisms and supporting the im- plementation of national financial in- clusion policies. FIARI uses financial inclusion as a driving force for sus- tainable economic and social devel- opment, aligned with the range of the United Nations Sustainable De- velopment Goals (UN SDGs). It acts as a coordination platform that en- ables financial inclusion advocacy, capacity building, peer-learning, knowledge development and in- country technical implementation support among central banks and fi- nancial authorities in the region. Identifying inequalities in internet ac- cess and determining which popula- tions could benefit from targeted interventions are also necessary steps toward comprehensive digital inclu- sion. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 48 ISSUE 158 FEBRUARY 2022 Predictor Decrease in Odds Female Age (10 Years) Below Median Income Secondary Education Basic Education Predictors of Internet Usage: Age, Gender, Education, and Income (Source: Arab Barometer) 42% 56% 45% 66% 76%