- Alliance for Financial Inclusion

Nominations are now closed

Since 2013, AFI has been annually honoring member institutions and individual policymakers for their contribution and engagement in the AFI network through the AFI Awards. The AFI Awards have been instrumental in enhancing member engagement, globally elevating members’ efforts in advancing financial inclusion through policy innovations and reinforcing best practices through motivating other members to aspire for excellence and contribute to AFI.

The AFI Global Financial Inclusion Awards are back this year, with the aim to recognize and celebrate achievements in three categories, two of which require members to nominate themselves and submit the relevant nomination form.

Nominate your institution to stand a chance to win! Winners will be announced during a special ceremony at the 2023 AFI Global Policy Forum in September in the Philippines, which will be co-hosted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The Awards now open for nominations include:

The Nestor Espenilla Jr. Financial Inclusion Innovation Award – This is a High-Level AFI Award that seeks to honor the memory and legacy of Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, a founding member of AFI and a global champion of innovation and inclusion. This prestigious Award aims to recognize AFI members that demonstrate outstanding commitment towards innovation and use of technology to advance financial inclusion.

The Global Youth Financial Inclusion Award – This is a High-Level AFI Award that seeks to acknowledge and recognize financial policymakers and regulators across the globe that are undertaking impactful initiatives, policies or regulations to accelerate financial inclusion of youth. It is open to AFI members and non-member financial sector regulators and policymakers from any country.

Please read the detailed eligibility and assessment criteria before submitting your nomination form. These can be accessed here.

The AFI Global Financial Inclusion Awards

Nestor Espenilla Jr. Financial Inclusion Innovation Award

Who is eligible
to apply?

This award is open to AFI member institutions that are implementing unique policy innovations that create an enabling environment for the introduction of technological and or business innovations towards addressing challenges of financial inclusion.

Criteria for the award

The following criteria will be used to assess submitted nominations:

Demonstrated commitment to foster new technologies and innovations that drive financial inclusion
Implemented unique or new policy solutions to foster financial technologies and new innovations
Demonstrated existence of market solutions responding to the above policy(ies)
Demonstrated evidence of uptake in access, usage and/or increased quality of financial services as a result of these market solutions
Displayed leadership among peers and enabled knowledge exchange at the global and/or regional level on the theme of new technologies and innovation.

How to apply?

Eligible AFI member institutions must nominate themselves by completing the nomination form, outlining their institution’s achievements as per the criteria listed above.

Deadline for submitting the nomination form is 23:59 Malaysia time (UTC +8 hours), Friday, 16 June 2023.

Global Youth Financial Inclusion Award

Who is eligible to apply?	This award is open to any financial policymaking or regulatory institution across the globe that are implementing high impact policy solutions including regulations that address structural barriers preventing the financial inclusion of youth. It is thus open to AFI members and non-members.
Criteria for the Award	The following criteria will be used to assess submitted nominations: Demonstrated commitment in removing structural barriers faced by youth in accessing formal financial services Implemented policy solutions addressing specific structural barriers faced by youth Demonstrated the existence of financial inclusion initiatives for youth and/or existence of financial services targeting the youth population Demonstrated evidence of uptake in access, usage and/or increased quality of financial services that targeted specifically for the youth population. Displayed leadership among peers and enabled knowledge exchange at the global and/or regional level on the theme of youth financial inclusion.
How to apply	Eligible institutions must nominate themselves by completing the nomination form, outlining their institution’s achievements, as per the criteria listed above. Deadline for submitting the nomination form is 23:59 Malaysia time (UTC +8 hours), Friday, 16 June 2023.
Acknowledgment	*The Global Inclusion Awards were originally initiated in 2012 by Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) and transferred to AFI in 2019.

Timeline

Key milestones for entrants are shown below.

Jury Members

An Awards Jury was appointed by the Awards Committee to review the submission from the finalists under the Nestor Espenilla Jr. Financial Inclusion Award and the Global Youth Financial Inclusion Award categories.

In terms of the process for these two Award categories:

Stage 1: All applications received are reviewed for completeness and eligibility by the Awards Administrator.
Stage 2: All eligible applications are submitted to the Awards Committee for shortlisting and selecting five finalists per category.
Stage 3: Awards Committee reviews the submissions from the five finalists and selects a winner per category.

The criteria for Awards Jury members are as follows:

Expertise in the field of financial inclusion and especially financial inclusion policy
High level position in their organization or renown standing in their sector
Excellent communication and teamwork skills
Diversity (equally represent the sexes and the world regions)

In appointing Jury members, the Awards Committee prioritized independence, a level of familiarity with AFI, and regional and gender diversity. The Awards Jury comprises of four external experts.