The Financial Services Pillar (FSp) works with selected ASEAN Member States to translate regional financial inclusion commitments into practical, country-level action. It supports implementation in priority contexts and captures lessons learned to enable scalable approaches across the region.

Through this approach, FSp helps expand access to affordable, responsible financial services, strengthen financial resilience, and improve the financial health of MSMEs and women.

Why it matters

Financial inclusion is improving, but access alone is not enough. Many individuals and businesses – particularly women and MSMEs – still struggle to use financial services in a way that are safe, effective, and beneficial over time. 
 

Rapid digitisation is reshaping financial systems. It is improving access and enabling innovation, but also introducing risks – from low financial capability and consumer protection to regulatory frameworks that have not kept pace with the growth of non-bank and platform-based services. 

Financial inclusion now depends on how well the system works as a whole. This includes strong national strategies, informed users, responsible market conduct, effective supervision, and well-functioning financial infrastructure.
Strengthening these foundations is essential to build financial systems that people trust, support responsible innovation, and improve financial resilience and long-term financial health.

How it works

FSp works closely with the ASEAN Working Committees on Financial Inclusion (WC-FINC) and Payments and Settlements (WC-PSS) to advance ASEAN’s financial inclusion priorities and support their implementation and update across ASEAN Member States, including through the development and delivery of a regional learning roadmap.
FSp work supports ASEAN Member States across five core areas:

1. Financial Inclusion Strategies – Supporting countries to develop, review and implement national financial inclusion and national financial education strategies, grounded in diagnostics and evidence. This helps strengthen policy foundations and guide coordinated action. 
2. Digital Payments – Advancing inclusive and efficient cross-border retail payment systems. This includes identifying key frictions and supporting the development of policies that improve cost, speed, transparency, and access. 
3. Digital Credit – Expanding access to responsible lending for MSMEs and individuals by supporting the use of alternative data, strengthening credit infrastructure, and enabling open and well governed data ecosystems.
4. Consumer Protection – Strengthening trust in financial systems by improving financial capability, safeguards, market conduct, and regulatory approaches to emerging risks, particularly in fast evolving digital and platform-based environments. 
5. Regional Knowledge and Coordination – Capturing lessons from country-level engagement and delivering a structured regional learning roadmap to support peer learning, policy alignment, and wder adoption of effective approaches across ASEAN.

Digitalisation and inclusion run across all three EIP pillars. For the Financial Services Pillar, this means using digital solutions to expand access, improve the usability of financial services, and reduce barriers faced by women and MSMEs.