Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Financial Inclusion Policy and Access to Financial Services in The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja

Abstract

This study sets out to assess financial inclusion policy and access to financial services in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The study intended to determine the extent to which the expansion of financial service outlets as initiated by CBN’s financial inclusion policy enhanced access to financial services by residents of Abuja. The systems theory which explains the inter relatedness of financial inclusion and economic development was used as the theoretical framework. The study adopted survey research design, using both the primary and secondary sources to gather data. Structured questionnaire, designed in Likert Scale format, analysis was based on the mean and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test hypotheses. Findings show that the expansion of financial service outlets has led to more access to financial services even though some people are still uninformed about the essence. The study recommended that more awareness campaigns need to be staged in order to keep more people informed; and the need to include more people in the information grid by translating some of the bank’s newsletters into local languages.