Fin Scope, a Fin Mark Trust initiative, is a nationally representative study of consumers’ perceptions on financial services and issues, which creates insight to how consumers source their income and manage their financial lives. The sample covers the entire adult population, rich and poor, urban and rural, in order to create a segmentation, or continuum, of the entire market and to lend perspective to the various market segments.”The first Fin Scope survey of people’s usage, needs and perceptions of financial services was undertaken by Fin Mark Trust in South Africa(SA)in 2003. Since then, Fin Scope has been repeated annually in that country and has become a premier source of credible information on the demand side of the retail financial services market there. Fin Scope surveys have also been completed to date in a further five African countries Botswana (2004), Namibia (2004), Tanzania (2006), Uganda(2006) and Zambia (2005). Fin Access, a survey using a similar methodology, was undertaken in Kenya in 2006. As further surveys are planned for 2007 in other African countries such as Ghana and Nigeria, as well as in Pakistan. In the countries where surveys have been concluded, the results have been launched in the form of a launch presentation or brochure1. In the earlier cases, further analysis and research has also been undertaken using the country-level data. However, to date, no systematic cross-country analysis has yet been undertaken using all seven data sets. This report was commissioned as a starting point for such analysis. The country datasets are constructed using sampling techniques designed to give national representatively for all adults above a certain age.