Billions of people around the world remain financially excluded.
Without savings, they are unable to build up the money they need to pay for their children’s education; without loans, they are unable to open and grow their businesses; and without insurance, they are constantly at risk of losing everything.
New technology — from mobile to app-based banking — now provides us with the tools we need to provide more people in ever more remote locations with financial services.
But there are also risks. Without safeguards — such as credit checking facilities and providing these people with lessons about financial literacy — there is a real risk that we could leave a whole generation of people in the developing world in debt.
That’s why last week I co-authored a column for the Financial Times with Andree Simon, my Co-CEO at FINCA, on the promises and pitfalls of the next era of financial inclusion.
Rupert