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The report prepared by the Inter-American Development Bank places Colombia in second place, representing an improvement over the 2013 report. The Global Microscope report 2014: Environmental Analysis for the Financial Inclusion places the country in this position between 55 emerging economies.

The study highlights that the launch of the National Strategy of Financial Inclusion and the establishment of the Interagency Committee on Financial Education, have allowed effectively coordinate the efforts of both the public and private sector, aimed at facilitating use of financial services of the population that was previously excluded.

This is the second award received by Colombia in recent days, after the breakthrough that presented the country in the ranking of ease of doing business by the World Bank, primarily associated to the improvement of access to credit, after approval and subsequent regulation of the Law on Secured Transactions.

The IDB report, evidences the favorable environment that has Colombia in terms of consumer protection, particularly in factors related to transparency in fees and information towards financial consumers, as well as in the resolution of disputes and controversies.

In this sense, highlights Colombia as one of the countries with the most favorable prudential regulation for financial inclusion, since the regulatory framework recognizes the characteristics of the products that are intended to serve the population of the base of the pyramid, such as the procedure of simplified opening for certain products, light channels for customer care (correspondents) and channeling of payment of Government subsidies through products from the formal financial sector.

“We are committed to further progress in deepening financial inclusion in the country, so we have been working on decrees regulating the newly created Companies Specialized in Deposits and Electronic Payments and the authorization for the use of correspondents by insurance companies” stressed the holder of the Ministry of Finance.

Finally, the report also mentions some challenges that exist in the country, related to indebtedness and low use of financial products. On this last point, the minister stressed that “we are very close to ensure access in all municipalities of the country to the products and services of the financial system. The challenge ahead will be to increase customers to make use of these products, so they can take advantage of all their potential. This is the hub of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion”.

(Taken from the Dinero Magazine)