The number of Rwandans who have access to formal financial services and products increased by more than 38.8 per cent to 7.5 million between 2020 and 2024, a new report published by Access to Finance Rwanda on June 20, found.
The report showed that at least 70 per cent of Rwandans have access to other formal financial services - those services that are not offered by banks - up from 55 per cent in 2020. Out of those financially included, only 22 per cent have bank accounts. That means that only one in three adults or 2.5 million, representing 31 per cent of the total population in Rwanda, are using banking channels or services, the report found.
"Our model is quite expensive for us to go deeper into the villages. As borrowers and customers go towards non-bank formal structures, it becomes more expensive for us to maintain branches in areas where there are no transaction volumes," she observed. "We need to design and develop products that speak to the specific needs of the people that we are serving," Mutesi weighed in, adding that forging partnerships with financial technology companies could reverse the trend.
However, Ivan Murenzi, the Director General of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda , stressed that there is a need to move beyond access to ensure that people have affordable financial services. Despite more males being banked than their female counterparts , more females now have access to former financial services .There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.