Disability, Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Rwanda

Persons with disabilities have disproportionately lower levels of access to financial and other services globally, resulting in lower socio-economic status relative to the general population. This study uses a mixed methods approach to quantify and explain the disability divide in Rwandas financial services. Using Probit models, the probabilities of accessing, owning and using digital platforms, financial accounts and products, and financial services are estimated while Tobit models are used to estimate the value of financial transactions. Probit and Tobit estimates are complemented by propensity score matching (PSM) as a robustness check. The results indicate that persons with disabilities are significantly less likely to own a mobile phone, computer and Internet or even use those owned by someone else. Ownership rates of mobile money and bank accounts, automated teller machine (ATM), credit cards, and usage of mobile and Internet banking are also lower among persons with disabilities. The usage of financial services saving, remittances, credit and insurance is also lower among persons with disabilities at the extensive margin (probability of usage) and intensive margin (value of transactions). A further finding is that, conditional on having a disability, females are less financially included related to males. The findings carry key implications regarding the need to boost financial inclusion for persons with disabilities to achieve overall equality as stipulated in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10. Among others, there is need for interventions to raise digital and financial literacy among persons with disabilities and develop innovative products that appeal to the financial needs and difficulties of this vulnerable group in general and women with disabilities in particular.