Financial inclusion, policies and instruments for migrants in Europe and Italy

Migrants residing in the EU are deeply affected by the economic crisis and particularly exposed to social and financial exclusion. This article highlights how policies aimed at fulfilling migrants’ financial needs could facilitate greater integration into the destination society. After examining the relationship between migrants and Italian banks, it gives an overview of field experiences for migrants’ financial inclusion implemented by Italian institutions. Finally, it introduces a semi-formal financial practice, the Self-Funded Communities model, that could enable financial inclusion of this population thanks to its similarity with community credit and savings mechanisms and its reliance on social cohesion and trust.