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PUBLISHED DATE: - 15-08-2024
DOI: -
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajmei/Volume06Issue08-04
THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN
ATTRACTING SENIORS TO DEAL WITH
BANKS
Ameer Ahmed Naser Al-shlah
Asst. Lect., University of Babylon, College of Administration and Economics, Department of
Financial and Banking Sciences, Iraq
INTRODUCTION
Modern financial and banking services have played
an essential role in increasing economic
development in developed countries. In Iraq, after
2003, these services began to see the light little by
little, but slowly, because most Iraqi people did not
own mobile devices or know how to use them;
Internet service was not available in every home
until 2015. During this period, banks began to enter
noticeably to provide their electronic banking
services, which was something new for them and
for the Iraqi citizens who had always used
traditional banking services in the past. What
encouraged local Iraqi banks to resort to keeping
pace with the technological revolution in banking
services was the entry or start of opening branches
of foreign banks in Iraq, which increased the
intensity of competition and made it necessary for
them to provide the best electronic and modern
banking services or at least retain their current
customers before they are attracted by competing
foreign banks. At first, modern services were
limited to the segment of merchants and the rich
who had banking transactions. After that, the move
was made to localize the salaries of employees and
retirees with banks, which made using electronic
payment cards Master or Visa popular. However,
the problem that emerged is that most older people
and retirees do not understand how to use any of
these banking services. The researcher also noted
that banks did not provide any advantages or
interest to this segment in terms of conducting free
courses or workshops to attract them to deal with
them, as most older people have a crisis of
confidence in dealing with banks on the one hand
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Abstract
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and a lack of experience in using modern banking
technologies or services on the other hand, which
makes them resort to using traditional
technologies or services provided by unlicensed
financial companies or brokers or those not subject
to the provisions and laws of banks.
From this standpoint, we have delved into the
reasons why the elderly do not deal with banks and
are not interested in the services they provide,
which makes banks think seriously and use
unconventional methods to attract this segment,
especially since their population percentage
exceeds a third of the total population. Because
achieving financial inclusion for any country must
focus on all its adult segments and those who have
income. Attracting the elderly to deal with banks
and making this transaction easy and simple for
them will gradually increase their confidence in
banks and thus achieve financial inclusion, which in
turn will generate financial and economic stability.
THE FIRST SECTION
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
First: Problem of the Study
The research problem is important, as it addresses
the elderly's reluctance to use the financial services
provided by banks and their tendency to resort to
informal channels. This issue underscores the
crucial role of financial inclusion in the elderly's
financial and banking interactions.
Second: The Importance of the Study
One of the essential segments of any country in
which capital is concentrated is the elderly
between the ages of 50 and 70. Raising the levels of
financial inclusion is one of the goals of sustainable
development, and one of the most important
factors for raising the level of financial inclusion is
increasing the percentage of the population dealing
with banks. Hence, the importance of the research
appeared.
Third: Objective of the Study
The research sought to define the concept of
financial inclusion and its role in attracting the
elderly population to deal with banks, as this will
achieve two goals, the first of which will be to
provide the best financial and banking services to
this category by knowing the reasons for their
reluctance to use banking services, while the
second goal is to solve these reasons or obstacles,
which in turn will direct the capital of this category
towards saving and investing in the banking sector,
which in turn will achieve financial well-being for
this category and move the wheel of the economy
on the other hand.
Fourth: Hypothesis of the Study
The research here was based on the hypothesis
that the financial inclusion policy in Iraq is
insufficient or not directed to all segments of
society, especially the elderly.
Fifth: Methodology of the Study
The research methodology is robust and
comprehensive. It involves the use of
questionnaires, personal and telephone interviews
with the target population, and the adoption of the
five-point Likert scale and the SPSS, Excel program
for data analysis. This approach ensures the
thoroughness and reliability of the research.
SECTION TWO
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
First: The Concept of Financial Inclusion
There are several definitions of financial inclusion,
as it is defined as the system that provides financial
services to individuals with the best quality, lowest
cost, and highest possible protection (Dangi &
Kumar, 2013: 155). While in other studies, it was
defined as the circumstance in which individuals
are able to obtain various financial services of high
quality and lowest costs, in addition to the
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appropriate method of dealing with individuals
and preserving their dignity (Gatanav, 2023: 22).
Others also defined financial inclusion as the
system that provides the population with access
and appropriate use of financial and banking
services available in the market that suit the needs
of all groups that enable them to live a decent life
and an excellent social and economic level (Hogan
et al., 2021: 62). In another perspective, financial
inclusion is defined as all advanced technological
services provided, such as opening bank accounts,
obtaining loans and banking facilities, payment and
transfer services, and other banking operations
without the need to visit the bank, but rather all of
them are provided via the Internet (Ozili, 2018: 4).
The World Bank report in 2018 also indicates that
financial inclusion is the ability of individuals or
companies to access financial services that meet
their
needs
quickly
and
conveniently.
(Chakrabarty, 2012: 5). Financial inclusion is the
process of ensuring financial services and products
to all individuals without exception, especially the
poor classes, transparently, somewhat, and at an
acceptable cost. Kim et al., 2020:84) see that the
need for financial inclusion arises from several
reasons for individuals living in remote areas
where it is difficult to access various financial and
banking services, as this will affect the spread of
financial services to marginalized groups. The
Group of Twenty (G20) defined financial inclusion
as enhancing the access and use of all segments of
society, especially the poor, to various financial
services and products that suit their needs at
reasonable and acceptable costs and fairly and
transparently for all (Arab Monetary Fund,
2015:2). The Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development defined it as the
process through which access to the most
significant possible amount of official financial
services and products is supported at the
appropriate time and at a reasonable cost and in a
broad manner to include all segments of society by
adopting advanced and innovative approaches
aimed at financial education and awareness to
achieve financial well-being on the one hand and
social and economic integration on the other hand
(Husseini, 2020:100).
Second: The importance of financial inclusion:
Financial inclusion has gained increasing
importance in recent years, especially after the
global financial crisis of 2007, as the G20 took upon
itself financial inclusion as one of the most
important axes of economic and financial
development, while many other countries took real
and effective strategies and steps towards
improving the quality of financial services
provided to their populations in order to achieve
social justice for them on the one hand and combat
poverty on the other hand (Khalil, 2015: 5). While
(Al-
Durai’i, 2018: 13) believes that the importance
of financial inclusion lies in contributing to
improving growth opportunities and financial and
social stability, as it has become unreasonable to
implement the goals of financial sustainability and
economic stability for any country without
involving or integrating its population with the
financial services provided, because their
contribution to using these services will in turn
increase the rate of economic growth of society
through the diversity of sources of income and its
flow, providing liquidity and building productive
assets for individuals and companies, which is
clearly reflected in improving the financial and
economic inclusion of the individual. Financial
inclusion is also important because it will enhance
competition between financial institutions, as all
institutions will diversify their services and
products in order to attract the largest possible
number of customers, in addition to focusing on
important segments, the most important of which
is the segment of low-income people or those
suffering from poverty, by providing them with
financial services that they obtain in smooth and
uncomplicated ways and at acceptable costs (Ibn
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Qayda and Bou Afia, 2018: 74). Financial inclusion
also plays an important and fundamental role in
automating the financial system, so the increased
spread of these financial services will require their
users to request them electronically, which
contributes to a technological boom that has not
been witnessed in the previous twenty years,
especially the payment service, as it will have a
great positive impact on both parties to the
transaction, the sender and the beneficiary and the
intermediary between them represented by the
financial institutions providing this service, which
saves less time and at a low cost, on the one hand,
and registering the largest number of individuals in
the financial system officially (World Bank, 2011:
2). Financial inclusion also helps reduce money
laundering operations, as the relationship between
the growth of financial inclusion and combating
money laundering is a direct relationship, as the
more financial services are officially provided, the
more efficiently the anti-money laundering system
works. Finally, financial inclusion has become one
of the most important elements of international
development policies, as confirmed by six of the
seventeen sustainable development goals closely
related to financial inclusion, for example, by
eliminating poverty everywhere in the world, in
addition to promoting the goal of sustainable
economic growth and providing decent job
opportunities for all individuals and encouraging
projects of all sizes, especially small and medium-
sized ones, and giving them a formal character
through their use of the formal financial system
(Clotteau & Measho, 2016: 13)
Third: Financial inclusion goals
Given the recent global interest in financial
inclusion and encouraging financial institutions
and bodies to unite and form blocs among
themselves to work according to a unified,
coordinated and common standard to obtain the
benefits and advantages that must be obtained
from financial inclusion, as most international
organizations started from a theory or principle to
reach a comprehensive financial system, which is
by caring for the poor and those with limited
income to improve their financial level by
providing all financial services such as savings,
salaries, credit, payments and money transfers
(Abdul Nabi, 2018:2) In our research here, we
focused on the elderly who are over fifty years old.
The importance of financial inclusion is clearly
demonstrated by the most important goal, which is
the transformation of the cash economy into a non-
cash economy that reduces the use of cash directly
and noticeably, as attracting citizens, individuals or
companies, to enter or use the official financial
system will reduce tax evasion and create a suitable
and safe environment for saving and enhance
economic growth and financial stability for any
country, in addition to the ease, speed and
simplicity of establishing an effective regulatory
system to control and monitor all financial
movements, which in turn will reduce or prevent
the phenomenon of money laundering. From what
was mentioned above, the financial and banking
services provided through a formal system will be
subject to the standards and regulations of the
global financial and banking sector, which in turn
will make the country concerned a participant with
other developed countries in all updates to the
financial and banking standards, such as the Basel
Committee, for example. On the contrary, informal
financial services will constitute a wide range of
services that are provided outside the scope of the
official financial institutions approved in the
country, and oversight and supervision over them
is limited or non-existent (Matar, 2018: 39). It is
noticeable that due to the importance of financial
inclusion, it will generally and broadly lead to
creating a state of speed, security and comfort for
citizens when using various financial and banking
services, in addition to expanding local trade
through the ease of using the electronic payment
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system away from traditional cash transactions,
which in turn will increase economic growth and
reduce the unemployment rate. Also, the principle
of equality or justice among citizens is one of the
most important things that have been taken into
consideration, as financial inclusion does not target
a specific category only, but rather its goal is to
reach all categories by encouraging them to save
and deposit in banks easily and conveniently, with
high security and at low cost, especially the elderly,
workers and retirees who fear dealing with official
financial institutions. Not only that, but attracting
these savings will increase liquidity and increase
investment instead of keeping this money at home
(Matar, 2018: 40).
Fourth: Characteristics of financial inclusion:
Financial inclusion has several characteristics, the
most important of which are: (Khalil, 2015, 211)
Time characteristic / providing financial services
and products at all times throughout the day
Cost / providing financial services at the lowest
possible price and cost.
Inclusiveness / as the financial services provided
do not target a specific segment, but include all
segments, including those with limited income.
Diversity / the financial services provided are not
limited to one service, but include all different
banking services.
Quality/ True, the goal is to provide financial
services at the lowest cost, but this does not mean
neglecting the quality aspect of these services.
Fifth: Risks of financial inclusion:
As previously mentioned, financial inclusion is the
provision of financial services to all groups,
especially those with limited income who are
unable to access the financial and banking services
provided for several reasons, which may be high
costs or the lack of branches of financial
institutions near them, especially in districts and
rural areas, or the lack of official documents they
need to use these services, as the risks of the lack of
financial inclusion will be summarized in the
following reasons: (Abu Diya, 2016: 104)
1/ Lack or low awareness of not using financial and
banking services among individuals, especially the
elderly who have spent their previous years using
informal financial services.
2/ Decrease in the idea of saving in formal financial
institutions such as banks, as well as a decrease in
the idea of investing in them.
3/ Decrease in job opportunities, which has
increased unemployment and inflation rates.
4/ The most important driver and supporter of the
economy is private sector projects, as the low rates
of private sector projects were among the reasons
for the decline in financial inclusion.
5/ Also, the increase in poverty, crime and
corruption rates played an important and
noticeable role.
6/ Financial and banking systems, according to the
researcher's point of view, one of the most
important reasons that led to the lack of financial
inclusion in the fiscal years is the inability to keep
pace with the technological developments that
occurred in the world and also the lack of use of
electronic financial and banking systems until
recent years, which led to a huge difference in
terms of services provided to citizens.
Sixth: The reality of financial inclusion in Iraq:
The Central Bank of Iraq contributed to enhancing
financial inclusion in 2015 through several
initiatives, for example, financing small and
medium enterprises with a balance of one trillion
dinars and large projects with a balance of five
trillion dinars (Abdul Nabi, 2018: 3). The goal of
this was to provide the largest possible amount of
job opportunities. When this financing is provided,
it will target the largest possible amount of citizens,
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who in turn will employ the largest possible
number of workers to help them in these projects,
which will reduce poverty and unemployment in
Iraq. In addition, the Central Bank sought to
develop the electronic systems and services
provided by adopting electronic payment and
exchange systems and adopting a system for
localizing salaries for employees, retirees and the
social welfare segment through their use of
MasterCard electronic payment cards and
increasing the number of automated payment
devices. In this research, the focus will be on the
elderly and retirees, in addition to measuring the
level of financial inclusion in Iraq from two main
aspects, which are the level of access to financial
services and the level of use of these services.
As the level of access to these services increases
according to the degree of effectiveness and
development of the banking sector, the principle of
the spread of bank branches according to
population density is one of the most important
reasons for the access of financial and banking
services to the population, as banking density and
banking penetration were measured based on the
Cameron model, which was developed in 1967.
Through this, banking density will be calculated by
dividing the population by the number of available
branches. At the same time, banking penetration is
measured by the number of branches divided by
the population. If the banking penetration rate is
one, then the penetration is ideal, and the higher
the ratio is than one, it indicates a comprehensive
and extensive spread of banks, which leads to an
increase in the actual need, contributing to a
decrease in banks' profitability. On the contrary, if
the banking penetration rate is less than one, the
open branches cannot cover the entire population,
and many do not receive banking services
adequately. The Cameron model was developed by
calculating the number of adults and those able to
work (Al-Ubaidi, 2019: 40). While the level of use
of financial services with the wide spread of
monetary and banking institutions has enabled
residents in rural and remote areas to benefit from
these economic and banking services such as
deposit and lending services. And other bank
transfers, electronic payment, and other services.
The level of measuring inclusion.
The third section: The applied aspect of the
research
The research process was thorough and
meticulous. We adopted a five-point Likert scale
and distributed a questionnaire to a study sample
of 100 elderly people aged between 50 and 70
years. We retrieved 75 forms, representing a 75%
response rate. According to the Central Limit
Theorem, the distribution of all arithmetic means is
close to the normal distribution, provided that the
number of sample members is at least 30
individuals. Our sample of actual study members
exceeded this minimum limit by two times,
ensuring the robustness of our results. These
results were then meticulously analyzed and
filtered using Excel and SPSS 27, ensuring the
reliability of our findings.
The questionnaire technique was used as a
comprehensive tool to collect data from the study
sample members. It was designed to cover all
relevant aspects, with several questions divided
into two parts:
The first part relates to the personal information of
the study sample members, including gender, age,
marital status, number of children, educational
attainment, and profession.
As for the second part, it relates to the study
variables and is divided into two axes:
The first axis/ relates to financial inclusion and its
objectives.
The second axis/refers to banks and their role in
attracting older people in light of financial
inclusion goals.
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The degree of answering the questions was determined as shown below:
Table No. 1 Five-point Likert scale
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Answer
5
4
3
2
1
Degree
The arithmetic mean will be interpreted according
to the five-point Likert scale as follows:
1.
Arithmetic means more than 3.6. The degree
of impact is very high.
2.
The arithmetic mean ranges from 3.6 to 2.6.
The degree of impact is high.
3.
The arithmetic mean ranges from 2.6 to 3.
The degree of impact is medium.
4.
The arithmetic mean ranges from 3 to 0.8.
The degree of impact is weak.
5.
The arithmetic mean ranges from 0.8 to zero.
There is no degree of effect worth mentioning.
Statistical methods such
as frequencies,
percentages, arithmetic mean, and standard
deviation will be used to determine the response of
the study sample members, the direction of their
answers, and their arrangement with regard to the
sections or axes above. These methods have been
chosen for their robustness and reliability in data
analysis.
Part One: Analysis of Personal Information:
Table No. 2 Gender of the Study Sample
Percentage Frequency Gender of the Sample
36% 27 Female
64% 48 Male
100% 75 Total
From Table No. 2, it is clear to us that the actual
participants in this questionnaire were 75 people,
ensuring a comprehensive representation of the
study sample. The number of females was 27, i.e.
36% of the total study sample, while the number of
males was 48, i.e. 64%.
Table No. 3 Ages of the Study Sample.
The ratio
Repetition
Age Statement
32
%
24
50 to 55 years
28
%
21
56 to 60 years
23
%
17
61 to 65 years
12
%
9
66 to 70 years
5
%
4
70 years and above
From Table No. 3, we notice that the highest
percentage was for ages between 50 and 55 years,
which is 32%, while it was followed by a slight
decrease of 4% for those between 56 and 60 years,
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while the percentage was 23% for those over 60
years, and finally those who were 65 years old or
older, whose percentage was 13%.
Table No. 4: Social status of the study sample members
The ratio
Repetition
Marital Status
5
%
4
Single
72
%
54
Married
15
%
11
Separated
8
%
6
Widowed
100
%
75
Total
According to the above table, the marital status
shows that the highest percentage was 72%, which
is married, while the lowest percentages were (4%,
6%, 11%) single, widowed, separated.
Table No. 5 Number of children for the study sample members
The ratio
Repetition
Number of children
12
%
9
0 to 2
76
%
57
3 to 5
9
%
7
6 to 8
3
%
2
9 children or more
100
%
75
Total
According to Table No. 5, concerned with the
number of children supported by the study sample
members, the largest percentage was 76% for the
average number of children from 3 to 5. In
comparison, the lowest was 3% for those who have
nine children or more.
Table No. 6: Educational achievement of the study sample members.
The ratio
Repetition
Educational attainment
14.7
%
11
Illuminated or primary
24
%
18
Intermediate or secondary
54.6
%
41
Institute or Bachelor's degree
6.7
%
5
Higher degree (Master's or PhD)
100
%
75
Total
According to the results of the educational attainment table above, the highest percentages
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were for institute bachelor's and secondary school
qualifications. While the lowest percentage was for
holders of higher degrees.
Table No. 7 Occupation of the study sample individuals
The ratio
Repetition
Occupation
18.7
%
14
Government employee
28
%
21
Private sector employee or worker
10.7
%
8
Business owner or private project (earner)
42.6
%
32
Retired
100
%
75
Total
From Table No. 7, it appears that the largest
percentage went to the retirees segment,
approximately 43% of the study sample
individuals. The smallest percentage after that was
for employees or workers in the private sector, at
28%.
It is clear from Tables 2 to 7 that most of the study
sample have an excellent educational level and are
of different ages and professions, so it is possible to
obtain objective answers to the study variables in
the second part. The questionnaire was distributed
to the categories that have a source of income only
to achieve the idea or goal of financial inclusion,
which is to provide economic and banking services
as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost to
individuals who have a source of income that
qualifies them to deal with banks and request its
various services.
Part Two: Analysis of the opinions of the study
sample individuals on the research variables:
Analysis of individuals' attitudes about financial
inclusion and its goals
Table No. 8
Descriptive analysis of the opinions of the study sample individuals about financial
inclusion
and its goals
Order of
importance
Impact
Level
standard
deviation
SMA
Phrases
code
4
High
0.65
4.15
I know what is meant by financial
inclusion and its goals
X11
1
Very High
0.50
4.72
Financial inclusion is one of the most
important factors in eliminating
poverty
X12
3
Very High
0.61
4.33
Financial inclusion facilitates access
to financial and banking services at the
lowest costs
X13
5
High
0.68
3.98
Promoting the digital transformation
of financial and banking services
encourages me to use them
X14
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2
Very High
0.57
4.58
Directing financing to support small
projects is one of the goals of financial
inclusion
X15
From Table No. 8, it is clear to us from the above
statements that older people, who are the study
sample, most of them do not know the exact
meaning of financial inclusion or its objectives or
understand it as financing or giving them loans and
facilities from banks or government agencies. This
came through the arithmetic mean of 4.58, the
second degree of impact. At the same time, it was
discovered that most of the study sample
individuals still need to learn about modern digital
or electronic financial services, which causes them
confusion and hesitation when dealing with banks.
This was confirmed when asked, as the arithmetic
mean was 3.98, although the standard deviation
was high, and their answers were scattered. The
researcher explains this to their need to
understand
precisely
what
the
digital
transformation of modern financial and banking
services means. The phrase financial inclusion
(providing financial and banking services at the
lowest cost and fastest time) was ranked high on
average and high importance because a significant
percentage of the study sample members hold good
academic degrees such as diplomas and bachelor's
degrees. It is preferable to take some basics of
using technology in institutes or universities, or
most of them have joined the government or
private sector, so they have become in touch with
and familiar with modern technology in the last ten
years, especially those who are now in their fifties.
Finally, the highest degree of impact was for the
phrase financial inclusion helps reduce the poverty
rate, which made them enthusiastic about this
phrase, as it had an arithmetic mean of 4.72 and the
lowest standard deviation, which indicates a lack of
dispersion of answers and their proximity to
accuracy.
Table No. 9 Descriptive analysis of the opinions of the study sample members about the role of
banks in attracting them to use their services
Order of
importance
Impact
Level
standard
deviation
SMA
Phrases
code
1
Very
high
0.48
4.86
Dealing
with
banks
is
more
complicated than dealing with
exchange companies
X21
3
Very
high
0.50
4.80
Dealing with private banks is easier
than dealing with government banks
X22
2
Very
high
0.49
4.84
Keeping money at home is safer for
me
X23
8
Very
high
0.64
4.48
I know what is meant by the Iraqi
Deposit Insurance Company in the
event of bankruptcy
X24
6
Very
high
0.62
4.60
Opening a bank account is now much
easier than it was ten years ago
X25
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9
Very
high
0.65
4.11
I know how to use modern electronic
banking services
X26
7
Very
high
0.62
4.54
I do not prefer dealing with banks in
order to reduce taxes or ask where
you got this from
X27
5
Very
high
0.55
4.66
Loans and facilities granted by banks
have
exaggerated
interest
and
conditions
X28
4
Very
high
0.52
4.72
Employees at the bank treated me as
if I were an ignorant person who does
not understand anything about
modern technology
X29
Through the above table No. 9, and regarding the
phrases related to the role of banks in attracting
older people to deal with them instead of choosing
other informal channels such as exchange
companies or some merchants or people who
provide traditional financial services that do not
require opening an account or a guarantor or
official IDs or the need to wait in queues of
customers. Several phrases were presented to the
study sample members, and their results or
analysis were as follows:
For older people, dealing with banks is more
complicated than with exchange companies, as
most elderly resort to informal channels due to the
ease of dealing directly and do not need to use
modern technology or open a bank account. This is
also in addition to the fact that they are looking for
the closest places that provide them with the
service, as banks do not have multiple branches,
especially in the districts and regions, which makes
the elderly members of the study sample resort to
alternative methods close to their residential areas
such as exchange companies. Also, about loans or
advances, banks, whether governmental or private,
impose difficult conditions, such as being an
employee or retired and having to bring a
guarantor or other guarantees, as not all older
adults are employees or retired; some of them are
private sector employees, and some of them own a
small project, which makes them borrow from
unofficial channels and in ways hidden from state
oversight, and according to the results of the above
statements, this will enable them to evade taxes, or
where do you get this from, especially the
merchants among them. There are also opinions
from older people who save their wealth in safes
inside their homes, and this is due to their lack of
trust in banks in the event of their bankruptcy or
the country being exposed to any emergency crisis,
in addition to not knowing that there is a company
that guarantees their deposits in the event of the
bankruptcy of the bank. However, they still prefer
cash in all their financial transactions. This is due
to habituation. In other words, an individual aged
70 or 65 spent his life until 55 or 60 years using
traditional financial services and became
accustomed to them. Suddenly, he is asked to throw
away 60 years of his way of life and use alternative
methods that use modern technology that most
older adults do not understand anything about. Not
only that, but most older adults are embarrassed
when visiting banks and talking to a bank
employee, a large part of whom use English terms
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or most of them explain quickly, which causes
embarrassment to older people because they do
not understand what is meant by Pin Code,
Password, ATM, POS, Username, OTP, etc. of the
banking phrases common in the last ten years.
There is also a large segment of older people with a
monthly income, whether employees or retirees.
Still, this income is barely enough for them and
their families for half a month and only covers their
basic expenses. There is no remaining income for
them to save or invest in banks. This is a significant
and vital reason that must be considered as to why
older people do not deal with banks, even if the
bank provides them with all possible facilities, as
there is no benefit from them. The reason is the
limited income compared to the standard of living,
which has increased more than threefold five years
ago. Hence, the research hypothesis has been
achieved: the financial inclusion policy in Iraq is
directed at only some segments of society,
especially older people between the ages of 50 and
70.
CONCLUSIONS
The researcher reached several conclusions
regarding the role of financial inclusion in Iraq and
also the role of banks in attracting older people to
deal with them or use their services:
• Financial inclusion is providing financial services
at the lowest cost and in the fastest time to income
groups, and our research they are older people. The
income of older people in Iraq is divided into
classes according to their profession. If the elderly
individual is retired, the average income does not
exceed 600 thousand dinars, a government or
private sector employee 850 thousand dinars, and
a business owner with an average income of
approximately one million dinars. We note that all
income averages only cover part of the individual's
needs for living, so there is no opportunity here to
use financial or banking services, which are savings
or investments.
• Most older people, due to their low incomes, do
not travel, do not send money, do not receive
money, and do not buy from the Internet, so they
do not need any electronic banking service.
• Most older people, regardless of their prof
ession
and due to their low income, do not own a home, so
they may resort here to reviewing banks and using
their services. Still, they are surprised by the
impossible conditions in front of them regarding
age, guarantors, guarantees, and interest rates,
making them flee from any world called a bank.
• Most banks have now introduced modern
technology into their daily activities, so when older
people visit these banks, they will face difficulty in
understanding most of the contemporary banking
technologies, for example, but not limited to IBAN,
CCV, POS, OTP, SWIFT CODE, and other modern
banking terms.
• Sometimes, older people not only face the
problem of technology and modern banking
techniques, but they may also face bank employees
who deal with them with arrogance, mainly since
most have limited income. Most of their visits to the
bank will be either to obtain a loan or an advance,
so we see some bank employees, especially
government ones, dealing with the elderly or
retirees with arrogance and using modern banking
services that make the elderly feel poor on the one
hand and ignorant of modern technology on the
other hand.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• The government should seriously consider
supporting all agricultural, industrial, tourism, and
commercial sectors and not rely on the oil sector
only to be able to increase the salaries of elderly
employees and retirees. As a result, the importance
of financial inclusion and the role of banks in
attracting them will come to the fore.
• Reducing the conditions imposed by b
anks or
facilitating them for the elderly and choosing easy-
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going employees who are straightforward and
compassionate in their dealings with this class that
has suffered in the past and is still suffering.
• Making video clips or posters explaining modern
banking terms or techniques in the most
straightforward ways and the Iraqi colloquial
dialect so that the information reaches older
people and they understand it without being
ashamed of anyone.
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