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Digital technologies unlock immense potential to expand financial access for the nearly with limited or no access to financial products. Many Fintech leaders are advocating to ensure that progress does not widen the gap but instead promotes financial inclusion. But is it enough? Or will these innovations continue to exacerbate inequity?

This question was central to the recent , hosted by the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation in partnership with the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence and the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State. The event featured fintech leaders discussing how financial technology is influencing inclusion鈥攈ighlighting both its opportunities and its risks.
 
Moderated by Benjamin Krause, executive director of the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago, the panel featured Boum III Jr., '21, CEO of Daba Finance, Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion; and Jennifer Tescher, MPP '96, president and CEO of the Financial Health Network.

The panelists created a foundation for the conversation by emphasizing the challenges to financial inclusion. 鈥淲e take for granted how easy it is to complete financial transactions when 2 billion people don鈥檛 have the ability to do so,鈥� Schlein said. 鈥淭he obstacles [to financial services] are many: lack of wifi, electricity, and the mindset of those who don鈥檛 view the 2 billion people as a market. But we have solutions that build the right products and services, with data and analytics, and we can now focus on meeting the needs of the vulnerable.鈥� Today, Accion helps catalyze these solutions as a leading seed-level investor in fintech for financial inclusion.

Daba Finance, a venture led by Chicago Booth alumni Boum III Jr., 鈥�21, is helping build infrastructure to make investment products on the African continent accessible for everyone. During the discussion, he emphasized how digital products democratize access stating, 鈥淭hat is the impact of digitization鈥攏ow, somebody that had to pay $1,500 to open an investment account can start investing with only $10.鈥� As a tech layer aggregating investment opportunities across the continent, Daba aims to drive investment access across the value chain from mobile money providers to large institutional investors.

At the Financial Health Network, Jennifer Tescher works to meet the challenges of financial inclusion by advocating through the company鈥檚 network of banks and financial service providers to improve the financial lives of the customers they serve. She shared how fintech innovation spurs competition that results in providing access to more people which builds a more inclusive economy stating, 鈥淲e wanted the big banks to see that, if you figure out how to do more for the financial health of people, to improve their financial health, it鈥檚 going to be better for your bottom line.鈥�

All three panelists stressed the transformative role that AI plays in advancing financial inclusion. Schlein shared that the biggest opportunities for AI in financial inclusion stem from its ability to tailor advice to individual consumers and to make sense of unstructured data that allows for more inclusive measures for credit decisions. Building on this, Tescher emphasized that open access to data was key to putting consumers in the 鈥渄river鈥檚 seat.鈥� She added that generative AI tools can work like a financial copilot, aiding consumers鈥� understanding of the implications of financial decisions and helping them take the next step. At Daba Finance, Boum pulls both powers of AI together to simplify data from their financial institution partners into an investment copilot for their retail customers. 

To maximize the opportunities, the panelists noted that the risks of financial exclusion are very real. For instance, Schlein mentioned that research from the independent think tank housed at Accion, , explored the unique challenges facing financially underserved women. When mobile phone usage is used to assess creditworthiness, mothers who share mobile devices with their families may be unfairly disadvantaged or excluded by algorithms. Examining the context is key when using non-traditional data sources to prevent further financial exclusion.

In the end, the panelists agreed that while risks exist, fintech鈥檚 potential to drive meaningful financial inclusion outweighs the challenges and encouraged audience members to focus on driving responsible solutions and positive outcomes. By harnessing fintech鈥檚 strengths, it is possible to continue the pursuit of a more inclusive financial economy.