Financial Exclusion in Rural and Urban Contexts in Poland: A Threat to Achieving SDG Eight?

Abstract

Financial inclusion, which consists of having a financial system that is easily accessible to citizens, is identified by various international organizations such as the new UN Agenda 2030, as a priority objective. This objective is particularly relevant in rural areas, where access to these services is more difficult, as citizens have to travel several kilometers to access them. In this study, we analyze the current situation of the Polish financial sector in terms of its accessibility, in order to measure the degree of financial inclusion. For this purpose, we use three combined methodologies. Initially, a data extraction from the Central Bank of Poland was carried out. Subsequently, three methodologies are applied to calculate financial inclusion. First, we apply the criteria of the Financial Access Survey (FAS) of the International Monetary Fund. Secondly, the Access to Cash Index (ACI) methodology by calculating a score that describes the access to banking services according to certain items. Finally, we applied the nearest neighbor methodology to detect in each voivodship those points where it is most difficult (measured in km distance) to access banking services. Some areas, especially in rural areas of the different voivodeships, present certain problems when it comes to accessing banking services. Therefore, the fulfillment of SDG 8.10 will be more difficult to achieve in these areas. The public authorities must pay attention to this, in order to reach the commitments acquired with the 2030 agenda, in terms of financial inclusion.

What Factors Are Limiting Financial Inclusion and Development in Peru? Empirical Evidence

“…Thirdly, a geographical representation of the physical access points to banking services (through bank branches or ATMs) has been conducted. A similar analysis approach can be found in other background research, such as the studies by Elouaourti and Ezzahid (2022) in Morocco; Evans et al (2020) and Higgs et al (2022) in Wales; Náñez Alonso et al (2022a) in Poland; Cadete de Matos and D'Aguiar (2018) in Portugal; Trütsch (2022) in Switzerland; Stix (2020a) and Stix (2020b) in Austria; or Chen and Strathearn (2020) in Canada.…”

“…In the case of bank branches, a score of 1 has been assigned when constructing the ACI since there is a time limitation (they are only open during business hours); they normally only provide services to customers of the bank (use is limited or restricted); and, in the case of accepting other customers, they may charge commissions. This same score was assigned for these reasons in other previous studies (Tischer et al 2019;Evans et al 2020;Caddy and Zhang 2021;Náñez Alonso et al 2022a;Náñez Alonso et al 2022b). In the case of ATMs, a score of 3 was assigned when constructing the ACI since they are available and operational 24 h a day; they are available to anyone, not only to the bank's own customers.…”

“…To do this, the points of access to financial services were taken, adopting the methodology described in the third point and assigning a score to each form of access. This methodology initially applied by Tischer et al (2019) for the case of the city of Bristol (U.K.) has also been adopted in other subsequent research: Delaney et al (2019) and Caddy and Zhang (2021) in Australia; Náñez Alonso et al (2022a) in Poland; or by institutions such as the Banque de France (2022). Equation (1) shows the ACI index:…”

Do credit unions contribute to financial inclusion and local economic development? Empirical evidence from Poland

“…For example, Beckmann et al (2018) employed this method in their study on Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and Banque de France (2019) for the specific case of France. Outside Europe, similar studies have been conducted, including in Canada (Chen & Strathearn, 2020), Australia (Delaney et al, 2019) or (Caddy & Zhang, 2021), and Poland (Náñez Alonso et al, 2022a). These studies have also focused on a regional analysis perspective.…”

Can Proximal Environments Prevent Social Inequalities Amongst People of All Ages and Abilities? An Integrative Literature Review Approach

“…The quality of life of cities' inhabitants has been studied worldwide under multiple points of view: noise and air pollution [19], inequality generated by geographical services distribution [20], or even income variations within a territory [21][22][23].…”