Financial Inclusion and Crowdfunding- A study of European Countries

Abstract

Financial Inclusion appears to be a means of achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs) w h ic h can exterminate poverty and help populaces to come out of the trap known as “poverty trap”. Crowdfunding, on the otherhand, helps people find investors or contributors for their business or cause. They are usually people who do no t have access to the formal financial market or do not want to borrow money athighinterest rates. The study was aime d to review the position of European countries in terms of financial inclusion and Fintechfrom the Findex data 2017 from the World Bank.The crowdfunding data was gathered from the website of the European Crowdfunding Network whi c h helps to propagate the idea of crowdfunding in European countries. The study found that most countries in Europe have a high number of populationsinclusive in the formal financial system and thus can access various fi nanc ia l se rv i ce s offered by these institutions. Also, crowdfunding has seen a sharp increase in the amount of money raisedand proj ec t s funded in the last few years which was possible through the penetration of Fintechservices in these countries. The study will be helpful for the companies which want to launch their crowdfunding platforms and also for the people who like to project their business on these platforms.