Financial inclusion has become a hotly debated topic as part of a wider social and economic inclusion agenda and an effort towards fuller participation by the vulnerable individuals.

The paper presents a radical new approach to measuring financial inclusion in the EU: a financial inclusion score that treats financial inclusion as the efficiency with which a financial system transforms the conditions of access (infrastructure, regulations, etc) into the actual use of financial services. Why is this so important? Because it allows us to see which countries are the most efficient – and in case of efficiency laggards, the extent to which financial service use can realistically be increased, given existing conditions.