Executive summary:
Persons with disabilities (PWD) in Rwanda face persistent and multidimensional barriers to full financial inclusion. Despite significant progress in expanding access to financial services nationally, the data show that inclusion gaps between PWD and adults without disabilities remain substantial. These gaps are especially evident in access to formal finance, quality of usage, digital participation, and the overall ability to build financial resilience. The disparities are more pronounced among PWD with low education, those living in rural areas, older adults, dependents, and individuals engaged in informal or low-income livelihoods. As a result, PWD are less able to harness financial services for economic advancement, household stability, and long-term security.
Across the financial access strand, most PWD rely on non-bank formal (NBF) providers (72.4 percent), while only 14.3 percent are banked. This reliance reflects both the accessibility and the limitations of NBF institutions for serving PWD. Although outright exclusion among PWD stands at 8.1 percent, the burden is unevenly distributed. Rural PWD (9 percent), youth (10.5 percent), older adults (12.2 percent), and individuals with no formal education (11.4 percent) face considerably higher exclusion. Dependents are the most vulnerable group, with more than one in four (27.1 percent) financially excluded. By contrast, PWD with secondary or tertiary education and those in formal employment exhibit much higher levels of financial access. These patterns highlight the strong influence that education, income sources, and location exert on financial inclusion outcomes for PWD.
Savings’ behavior reveals a further layer of vulnerability. While saving remains a widespread practice among PWD, formal saving has declined sharply—from (47.7 percent) in 2020 to (36.5 percent) in 2024. A majority now rely on informal savings mechanisms (50.3 percent), while 11.6 percent save only at home or in-kind. Such behaviors expose PWD to security risks, limit returns, and restrict participation in more structured financial planning. The decline in formal saving suggests that PWD encounter barriers such as limited financial literacy, affordability challenges, and accessibility issues. Adults without disabilities are more likely to save formally, indicating widening inequities in financial stability and asset-building opportunities.
Credit access is similarly characterized by strong dependence on informal sources. Only 16.4 percent of PWD borrow formally compared with 25.2 percent of adults without disabilities. Meanwhile, 41.9 percent of PWD rely on informal borrowing, with 32.9 percent borrowing exclusively from informal providers. Limited engagement with formal credit markets restricts opportunities for business growth, investment in productive assets, and improved resilience to shocks. Barriers may include lack of collateral, low or irregular income, heightened perceptions of risk among lenders, and inaccessible loan application processes. Consequently, PWD remains constrained in their capacity to leverage credit for economic empowerment.
Digital financial services (DFS) represent another critical dimension of exclusion. Although 79.4 percent of PWD have some level of digital access, this remains significantly lower than the 86.1 percent observed among adults without disabilities. Only 66.5 percent own a digital device appropriate for accessing DFS, and smartphone ownership is extremely low at just 9.3 percent. Such gaps severely limit the ability of PWD to use advanced digital financial tools, participate in mobile banking, or benefit from emerging digital platforms. While PWD receive digital income at comparable levels to adults without disabilities, their usage of digital payments, particularly peer-to-peer transfers and merchant payments—is far lower. This suggests that digital capability, rather than mere access, remains the main constraint. Challenges such as low digital literacy, inaccessible interfaces, and affordability issues further hinder meaningful participation.
Overall, the evidence demonstrates that increasing access to financial services is necessary but not sufficient to achieve full inclusion for PWD. Barriers related to capability, affordability, accessibility, quality of service, and structural inequalities significantly shape outcomes. Financial behavior patterns indicate that PWD are not inherently less capable of managing money; rather, systemic factors reduce their ability to act on financial decisions.
