Inclusive Financial System

The Inclusive Financial System (IFS) Initiative is a program of the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (Aspen FSP) that seeks to build an inclusive financial system in which all people can access, utilize, and benefit from a full suite of financial services. Starting from the position that such infrastructure facilitates financial stability, resilience, and long-term security, particularly for vulnerable households, we believe that we must make change at this level of scale and ambition to meaningfully reduce the nation’s gaping wealth disparities.

In October 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the release of the country’s first-ever National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, a comprehensive, cross-sector plan that elevates household financial security as a national priority. In coordination with the Strategy’s key objectives, Aspen FSP utilizes a multi-pronged approach to realize the transformational change needed to establish a truly inclusive financial system, including:

• Supporting the development and implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion through convening the Working Group on Inclusive Finance, a group of dedicated leaders aiming to improve financial outcomes for all households. This work also includes conversations with elected officials on Capitol Hill, leaders at the White House and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, key consumer advocates, and our institutional partners.
• Educating and informing critical stakeholders, including elected officials and key decision makers at leading financial services firms, to build a broader base to take action on the recommendations in the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion.
• Engaging nonprofit and private sector leaders to accelerate progress on the most urgent priorities named in the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion and also to brainstorm new and more inclusive financial products and services to support those priorities.
• Conducting original research and synthesizing knowledge and data with the goal of developing a more thorough and precise understanding of the experiences of today’s financially vulnerable individuals in order to build a genuinely inclusive financial system for tomorrow.

Now is the time to invest in a bigger, bolder, more coordinated response to address the financial precarity engulfing millions of U.S. households. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has taken the first step by creating a national strategy that elevates the urgency of the crisis, organizes our systems and resources around a shared goal, galvanizes more people to act, and produces tangible, measurable improvements in financial security at scale and at the household level. Together, we can move beyond merely managing household financial scarcity to creating the conditions of security and well-being that will enable full participation, agency, and dignity in both our economy and our democracy.

Aspen FSP’s work on the Inclusive Financial System Initiative is made possible through our funders. Visit our funders page to learn more.