We often explore how fintechs are changing the banking and payments landscapes, and sometimes look into how their solutions are supporting financial inclusion and helping people develop healthy financial habits. But to kick off 2025, we’re placing a focus on ‘fintech for good’ to find out exactly how much impact fintechs are having – both positively and negatively.
So far this month, we’ve explored whether all fintechs have a responsibility to ensure positive social impact, what sets ‘fintech for good’ companies apart, and the biggest challenges fintechs face in trying to deliver a positive social impact.
But what have firms been doing practically? How have some firms actually helped to improve inclusivity? To find out, we reached out to experts to see which initiatives caught their eye in the last year.
Johannes Kolbeinsson, CEO and co-founder of PAYSTRAX, expresses disappointment over the number of initiatives to do so: “Sadly, there haven’t been many recent initiatives to improve inclusivity in the market. It’s being done in the name of risk management and appetite, but it’s a difficult situation as an increasingly larger part of the market is being excluded from being able to use financial services.
“More modern players have implemented a more general risk management approach, where all cases are analysed and risk assessed to understand the actual risk and put in adequate controls to manage the risk, rather than just decline. This prevents the largest part of exclusion and helps to improve inclusivity. But the fact that most traditional and legacy firms have not adopted these methods, still means a large group of people within society are being blocked from accessing vital financial services.”
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