Digital Finance in Rural Europe Transforming Access and Inclusion

https://www.ifc.org/en/stories/2026/digital-finance-in-rural-europe-transforming-access-and-inclusion In rural Kosovo, accessing a bank can still mean traveling long distances. For residents like Hazbije Berisha—an artisan who owns a small plot of arable land on the outskirts of the village of Janjevë—the nearest branch is nearly 20 kilometers away, making routine transactions costly and time-consuming.