What FinMark Trust does

FinMark Trust is an independent non-profit trust established in 2002 (incorporated 2003) and headquartered in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Its mandate is to make financial markets work for the poor by promoting financial inclusion and regional financial integration, pursued through two principal programmes: (i) creation and analysis of demand-side financial inclusion data, and (ii) systematic financial sector inclusion and deepening programmes addressing regulatory, supplier, and market-level barriers. The core asset is the FinScope survey methodology, executed through FinScope Consumer, FinScope MSME, and FinScope Tracker surveys, supplemented by FMT Analytics (a team of statisticians and data scientists), the FMT Geospatial Data Portal, and the MAP (Making Access Possible) diagnostics and roadmap framework. The organization also operates the i2i (insight2impact) joint programme with Cenfri, running the DataHack4FI innovation competition, and previously launched a COVID-19 Tracker for socioeconomic monitoring.

The organization funds its operations almost entirely through grants from international development partners and bilateral aid agencies, including UK Aid, UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Mastercard Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank, SECO, USAID, and CGAP. It does not charge for its datasets — publications and data are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 — and offers tailored training and capacity-building services alongside its research. Its primary customers are governments (central banks, ministries of finance, treasury departments), regulators and policy makers, financial service providers (banks, insurers, mobile money operators), and development partners, with end-beneficiaries including MSMEs, small-scale farmers, women, youth, migrants, and cross-border traders. The organization reports operational reach across 35+ countries with primary programmatic focus on the SADC region, and attributes to its data a 50%–75% SADC financial inclusion rate increase over 10 years.

Name

FinMark Trust

Legal name

FinMark Trust

Website

https://finmark.org.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FinMark Trust is an independent South African non-profit trust that produces demand-side financial inclusion research — including FinScope Consumer, MSME, and Tracker surveys, the FMT Geospatial Data Portal, and MAP diagnostics — for governments, central banks, financial service providers, and development partners across 35+ countries, primarily in the SADC region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Inclusion Research and Advisory

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Transaction Analytics & Cash-Flow Insights (risk signals, forecasting) (FSAGACAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data Quality, Monitoring & Observability (uptime, latency, reconciliation) (FSAGACAL)

Keywords

• Financial inclusion research
• Demand-side surveys
• FinScope surveys
• MSME financial access
• Development data analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Midrand

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Development Partner Funding: Grant funding from international development organizations and bilateral aid agencies to support financial inclusion research and programs

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FinMark Trust is an independent non-profit trust that designs and conducts demand-side financial inclusion surveys (FinScope Consumer and FinScope MSME), analyses the resulting datasets and big data through FMT Analytics, and publishes evidence, diagnostics, and roadmaps that governments, central banks, regulators, and financial service providers use to develop financial inclusion strategies. Its Geospatial Data Portal hosts national financial inclusion datasets across 35+ countries, and it delivers tailored training, capacity-building, and innovation programmes (MAP, i2i, DataHack4FI) to support evidence-based decision-making in the SADC region and beyond.

Product overview

FinMark Trust (FMT) operates as a non-profit organization offering a portfolio of financial inclusion research products and services. The core offerings include FinScope Consumer Surveys (nationally representative demand-side financial inclusion surveys), FinScope MSME Surveys (enterprise-focused surveys), and FMT Analytics (data analysis services). Supporting products include FinScope Tracker (interim indicator tracking), the FMT Geospatial Data Portal (cross-country analytical tools), and the COVID-19 Tracker. FMT also provides training and capacity-building services. The i2i (insight2impact) initiative, jointly hosted with Cenfri, runs the DataHack4FI innovation competition. All published data and reports are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FinScope: FinScope Consumer Survey - a demand-side survey to understand the informal financial product/service market
• FinScope MSME
• FinScope Tracker
• FMT Analytics
• FMT Geospatial
• FMT Portal
• MAP
• i2i (insight2impact)
• DataHack4FI
• COVID-19 Tracker

Products and services

• FinScope Consumer Survey A nationally representative demand-side survey uniquely aimed at increasing understanding of the informal financial product and service market, providing data on levels of access to financial services and profiling consumers across countries.
• FinScope MSME Survey A specialised survey tracking micro, small and medium enterprise financial inclusion, providing business insights, support needs, and resilience to economic shocks.
• FinScope Tracker Survey A smaller survey designed to track the main financial inclusion indicators between baseline FinScope Consumer surveys.
• FMT Geospatial Data Portal An online data portal providing access to a range of public data types and analytical tools, enabling stakeholders to compare financial inclusion indicators across 35+ countries.
• FMT Analytics A research team of statisticians and data scientists that analyses FinScope or big data to generate evidence and insights for policy and market decisions.
• FMT Training and Capacity Building Tailored training solutions and packages for different organisations, building capacity in financial inclusion research and analysis and resulting in empowerment, motivation and increased productivity.
• MAP Diagnostics and Roadmaps Making Access Possible (MAP) diagnostics and roadmaps that identify financial inclusion interventions and support the development of national financial inclusion strategies.
• DataHack4FI Innovation Competition The largest Pan-African innovation competition, an initiative within the i2i (insight2impact) programme jointly hosted by FinMark Trust and Cenfri, focused on data-driven financial inclusion solutions.
• COVID-19 Tracker A tracker survey monitoring health and risk behaviours, food security, income, work and job security, personal safety concerns, and access to government and community support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quantifiable outcome

• SADC financial inclusion increased from 50% to 75% over 10 years
• +3 more outcomes

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Southern African Development Community (SADC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional intergovernmental organization; FinMark Trust works closely with SADC on the MAP program and SADC Financial Inclusion Strategy implementation.
• SADC Banking Association (SADC BA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional banking association working with FinMark Trust on financial inclusion initiatives in the SADC region.
• Committee of Central Bank Governors in SADC (CCBG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional central bank governance body collaborating with FinMark Trust on financial inclusion policy and harmonization.
• Cenfri (Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of the DataHack4FI innovation competition within the i2i (insight2impact) program; joint research and knowledge development partnership.
• FSD Network (Financial Sector Deepening Network)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of FSD organizations across Africa; FinMark Trust is a member along with AFR (Rwanda), EFInA (Nigeria), FSD Ethiopia, FSDA, FSDK (Kenya), FSDMOC (Mozambique), FSDT (Tanzania), FSDU (Uganda), FSDZ (Zambia).
• CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor)majorTechnology or IntegrationPartnership for hosting national smallholder farmer survey datasets from Tanzania, Cote D'ivoire, Uganda, Bangladesh, and Mozambique.
• EFInA (Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNigerian financial inclusion organization; hosted A2F dataset on FinMark Trust platform.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• FSD Africa (Financial Sector Deepening Africa): FSD Africa is a Nairobi-based foundation that funds and supports financial sector deepening across the continent and is a member of the FSD Network alongside FinMark Trust. It plays a comparable role as an Africa-wide financial inclusion research and programme funder, with overlapping donor relationships and policy mandates.
• Cenfri (Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion): Cenfri is a South Africa-based non-profit that co-hosts the i2i (insight2impact) programme with FinMark Trust and runs DataHack4FI. Both organizations target demand-side financial inclusion research, regulatory reform, and capacity building for regulators and providers across Africa and emerging markets.
• EFInA (Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access): EFInA is a Nigerian financial inclusion research organization and FSD Network member. It produces Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) datasets — a direct parallel to FinMark Trust's FinScope outputs — and collaborates on data hosting via FMT's portal.
• FSDT (Financial Sector Deepening Trust Tanzania): FSDT is a Tanzanian trust within the FSD Network that conducts FinScope-style demand-side surveys and runs financial inclusion programmes. It directly mirrors FinMark Trust's model at country scale, with overlapping methodology (FinAccess) and shared donor base.
• FSD Kenya (Financial Sector Deepening Kenya): FSD Kenya is a Kenya-based trust that conducts demand-side financial inclusion research (FinAccess surveys) and supports market development programmes. It is a fellow FSD Network member running a near-identical mandate at country level as FinMark Trust operates across SADC.

Peers

• CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor):

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/finmarktrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/finmark-trust

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about FinMark Trust