DE-RISKING AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCES: A SCOPING REVIEW OF BANKING ACCESS AND RISK-BASED APPROACHES

Abstract

De-risking, that is, the restriction or termination of banking relationships in order to avoid, rather than manage, risks associated with certain customers or sectors, creates tension between the financial integrity and financial inclusion agendas, and international remittance providers are among the most affected segments. This scoping review, conducted under the Joanna Briggs Institute framework and reported according to PRISMA-ScR, mapped the drivers, consequences and alternatives to de-risking described in the 2021–2026 literature on these providers, with emphasis on the United States. Twenty-three documents were included, comprising peer-reviewed articles, a book chapter, working papers and reports by regulators and international bodies. Profitability emerges as the main driver, mediated by due diligence costs, banks' limited visibility into providers' operations, supervisory expectations perceived as uncertain and fragmented supervision; this convergence, however, partly stems from interdependent sources. Reported consequences involve costs, market concentration and fragile settlement, but causal evidence is scarce, and displacement to informal channels is presumed rather than measured. Individualized risk assessment, proportionate due diligence, advance notice of termination, sharing of supervisory information and safe corridors are proposed without any published effectiveness evaluation, and there is no standardized indicator of account closures affecting providers. The relationship between integrity and inclusion is well characterized normatively but weakly demonstrated empirically.