Persons with disabilities’ financial literacy and access to financial services

Abstract

Persons with disabilities often face various obstacles in accessing financial services. This condition is caused by the lack of financial literacy and the inaccessibility of financial service institutions, both in infrastructure and financial system rules. For this reason, this study aims to explore the financial literacy of persons with disabilities and the accessibility of financial service institutions. Using the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and survey methods, this study presents quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis on financial literacy and accessibility of persons with disabilities to financial services. FGDs and surveys were conducted in three cities in East Java Province, namely Surabaya, Malang, and Mojokerto. The results show that the financial literacy of persons with disabilities, as indicated by their abilities to make financial planning, is still very low. In addition, infrastructure accessibility and financial service requirements are inaccessible for persons with disabilities, so that they are reluctant to access the financial services.