Financial Inclusion: A Systematic Literature Review of Recent Studies

This study is done to analyze the literature available relevant to the topic of financial inclusion. It surveys literature between 2008 to 2017 and data was collected from different online and print journals, different online research sites such as SSRN, Wiley, google scholar, Science direct etc., and from different search engines by typing related words. Additionally, the search mostly focused on updated knowledge and only focused on 50 of recent and relevant studies. This research paper provides a systematic review of recent studies on financial inclusion around the world and this review covers the following areas of financial inclusion: policies and challenges, determinants and factors influencing FI, evaluation and measurement and finally covers the effects of FI on poverty, inequalities, monetary policy and economic growth of a country. By this review, it is find out that different researcher have examined the financial inclusions importance by analyzing different concepts of financial inclusion. Most of the studies support the view that financial inclusion has a strong and positive impact on the economic growth and development rather than on monetary policy and financial stability. So, study‟s result suggests that the linkage between financial inclusion and monetary policy has been studied in few instances and through models that estimate a direct relationship. The gaps that study identifies and recommends to be filled by future research is to cross-country and regional studies on the impact of financial inclusion on monetary policy using panel data and also recommend to the banks to reframe and restructure the policy measures of FI. So it can be concluded that financial inclusion plays a significant role in achieving greater inclusive growth and economic development of a country. But because of sample size of studies is small; it is very difficult to conclude about the importance of financial inclusion on this basis.