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Financial inclusion starts with payments, and with this I would like to conclude. It has therefore been, and remains, a key objective for the CPMI. Thanks also to the support of Queen Máxima, significant progress has been made in recent years, with a number of innovative solutions helping to increase access to payment services for underserved populations around the world.
However, a significant number of people across the globe still lack the means to make fast, secure and trustworthy payments. Lack of access to basic payment services risks feeding wider social exclusion and supporting the rise of potentially unsafe shadow payments that do not offer legal certainty or sound credit and liquidity risk management.
To protect consumers, and to spread the benefits of financial inclusion more widely, we need to continue our work – in close cooperation with all stakeholders – so that everyone, and not just a portion of the population, enjoys access to basic payment services. Ultimately, this work will not only benefit those who become financially included; it will also foster social cohesion and support economic prosperity more broadly.