Despite the abundance of wealth in the world today, economic disparity remains persistent and deeply entrenched. Access to basic financial services should be a universal baseline, not a privilege. We fund the research and solutions that rise to this challenge.
Despite the abundance of wealth that exists in the world today, economic disparity remains a persistent and deeply entrenched reality. While the causes are numerous, issues such as financial exclusion are both preventable and solvable. Access to basic financial services (such as banking, payments, credit, insurance and safe investments) and the knowledge to use them effectively, should be a universal baseline, not a privilege.
The World Bank estimates that roughly 1.4 billion adults globally remain unbanked, a population disproportionately comprising women, rural communities, and people in low-income countries. The problem is self-reinforcing: poverty makes it harder to access financial systems, and exclusion from those systems makes it harder to escape poverty — a cycle that is difficult to break without deliberate intervention.
Achieving meaningful financial inclusion requires addressing a broad range of interconnected barriers:
We believe that every person, regardless of their circumstances, deserves access to financial services, the knowledge to use them, and the agency to improve their own situation.
While meaningful progress has been made in expanding access to financial services, the benefits have been reaped disproportionately by those with greater means. We are committed to funding innovative research and solutions that rise to the challenge of providing ethical and sustainable financial solutions to the under-banked and under-privileged.
If you are working in the area of financial inclusion — whether as a researcher, practitioner, technologist, or policy innovator — we want to hear from you. Critical Mass Ventures is actively seeking to collaborate with individuals and organizations who are doing serious, impactful work in this space. We are particularly interested in connecting with those whose work bridges the gap between access and meaningful economic participation. Reach out to us at hello@criticalmassventures.co.
Critical Mass Ventures recently conducted a research internship to map the progress and gaps in global financial inclusion. Drawing on decades of economic literature and global data on account ownership and usage, our inaugural intern Krishna Nagarajan arrived at a finding that challenges the field's prevailing measure of success.
Account ownership has expanded dramatically across the Global South over the past decade. But owning an account and using it to build lasting wealth are not the same thing, and financial literacy is the binding constraint separating the two. Women bear this gap disproportionately at every income level; in one study across rural Punjab for example, the gender literacy gap did not close even when women gained education, employment, or a bank account of their own. In the world's poorest countries, where commercial markets have little incentive to serve low-income women, the exclusion is sharpest.
CMV is therefore looking to partner with and fund organizations designing creative, effective solutions to financial literacy for women in the Global South, particularly in the places where commercial capital will not go.