NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Kay Banzon

Countless articles online tout the role of fintech in promoting financial inclusiveness. Innovative startups have supposedly developed ways to make it easy for just about anyone to use financial solutions and be part of a national or international financial system.

However, until now not many new financial services make it genuinely easy for new users to use fintech products, especially those that involve blockchain or cryptocurrency. The steps to get and use an account are still not that simplified for those who are not accustomed to using mobile apps and web services.

“Being able to have access to a transaction account is a first step toward broader financial inclusion since a transaction account allows people to store money, and send and receive payments,” notes the World Bank in its financial inclusion micro-site.

However, even this first step is not that easy for many who are new to using modern smartphones and do not even have email accounts.

Photo courtesy of World Bank Photo Collection.