The MAP Global Insights series Volume 2 looks at the thinking, strategies and processes that have enabled national delivery in financial inclusion, and attempts to codify the operational approach taken in the 18 ‘MAP countries’, including the 9 where the programme is working with governments to implement the national roadmap on financial inclusion. Key learnings using the country-specific consumer data drive the national implementation approach at country level.

NOTE 1: More bread on the table: The promise and the potential of financial inclusion. In a changing and uncertain global order, financial inclusion – with its close linkage to the real economy – promises to become a means of supporting growth and contributing to poverty eradication. Using detailed consumer data, this note demonstrates the potential for financial inclusion to play a stronger role in lessening vulnerability to poverty, keeping up with shifting national demographics, nurturing small business growth and addressing food security challenges, among others.

NOTE 2: Humanising data: The MAP toolbox for fine-tuning and calibrating national metrics and optimising consumer delivery. Applying the MAP data analysis tools to the extensive consumer data gathered in-country enables accurate understanding of actual consumer behaviour and needs, both country-specific and in terms of patterns identifiable across developing countries. Findings from the use of the MAP tools have challenged a few of the conventional financial inclusion assumptions, in the process contributing to the global pool of financial inclusion metrics. The tools are central to supporting government and stakeholders in evidence-based decision-making towards smart, consumer-focused solutions.

NOTE 3: ‘Begin at the beginning’: Giving development initiatives political teeth and boosting government capacity to deliver on the SDGs. The single greatest challenge facing development is turning research and strategies into implementable solutions: improvement initiatives that deliver a positive impact. This note unpacks how the MAP programme is working with governments and development partners to boost countries’ capacity for self-determination and delivery on the national financial inclusion roadmap vision and promises, in the process accelerating inclusive growth and making progress towards the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

NOTE 4: There and back again: Harnessing data, developing collaborative platforms and enabling governments to deliver on the SDGs. This concluding note pulls together the power of the consumer data, its role in driving improvement interventions at country level and the importance of the MAP platform in bringing together country governments and stakeholders in evidence-based decision-making. Picking up on the key findings from the consumer data in other notes in the current volume, this note also provides insight into the systematic operational approach of the global MAP programme and reiterates the efficacy of the MAP approach in working with governments to deliver on the SDGs.