Comparison of digital and financial exclusion in Poland and in Norway

Abstract

Dynamic development of technology, increasing popularity of Internet, better availability of devices allowing easy access to Internet such as laptops, tablets or smartphones, as well as easy access to broad spectrum of information, has caused significant diversification and transformation of the society. Nowadays we can talk about information society where the main value is information and the services associated with it. A trend is being observed of moving traditional services into the Internet and developing services being there already. Part of the society has been deprived of, for various reasons, the possibility to actively participate in many aspects of the public life. An indication of civilization’s development level is the access of its citizens to modern technologies and their usage. For one part of the society, getting information is quick, simple and independent from factors like time and location. The other part of the society, due to the lack of such capabilities, is digitally excluded. This digital divide causes yet another type of exclusion – inability to access Internet banking services – financial exclusion. In this paper comparative analysis of Poland and Norway has been conducted (also referring to the EU average) regarding the digital and financial exclusion, accessibility of information available in the Internet, factors differentiating those two countries, especially the usage of Internet banking, treated as the main cause for financial exclusion. Security and financial losses aspects have also been discussed in this paper – as one of the potential drivers of the financial exclusion.