Title: A study on financial inclusion: excluded segments of Dhaka city experience

Authors: Md. Abdus Salam Sarker

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, City University, 13/A, Panthapath, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh

Abstract: The financial inclusion (FI) is a very concerned issue all over the world where Bangladesh is also trying to include people under the financial services. The paper has highlighted the current status of FI and also identifies the barriers faced by the unprivileged segments to be included in the formal financial services with special reference to the Dhaka city. Research methodology is exploratory by nature. A field survey through a structured and extended open ended questionnaire (mixed questionnaire) has been conducted conveniently over 220 respondents from the financially excluded populations under the Dhaka metropolitan area to collect relevant data. The findings of the study reveal that the progress of FI is in infancy stage and it can be even better by paying more hid to four levels of barriers namely: social, personal, economic and market-based/systemic faced by the unprivileged segments of the society. Besides the existing business models and financial products/services, it is the right time to introduce innovative channel of distribution of financial product/services, those are best served the demand of the different segments of urban underserved population. The outcomes are expected to guide regulators, when formulate financial products/services to include more people in the endeavor of economic development.

Keywords: financial inclusion; financial exclusion; financial services; Dhaka; Bangladesh; urban unprivileged; financial products; cities; economic development.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2016.079323

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2016 Vol.12 No.4, pp.493 - 513

Received: 19 Aug 2014
Accepted: 30 May 2015

Published online: 27 Sep 2016 *

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