Technology alone has never been a silver bullet for bringing useful financial tools to low-income people and businesses around the world: human touch has been essential. Today, amid the extreme inequality of recovery from the pandemic, these populations face the most challenging path to recovery but run the risk of being even further left behind. High-income countries where human touch has been less essential—and digital adoption has been easier—are rebounding faster from the pandemic. Inclusive financial service providers need to think differently about how to balance tech and human touch. And while Silicon Valley fintechs emphasize product quality, elegance, and access, the customer journey and building a pathway to digital adoption is just as crucial—if not more so—when meeting the needs of the financially underserved. Join this conversation led by Accion Venture Lab to hear directly from fintech CEOs about their experiences finding the right balance between tech and touch—helping some of the world’s most vulnerable populations gain access to the digital tools they need to recover and rebuild
Ensuring inclusion for low-income populations in today’s acceleration to digital: The new tech-touch balance
Format
Panel
Meta Themes
Equity & Inclusion
Themes
Digital inclusion, financial inclusion, fintech, impact investing
Purpose and Desired Outcome
Advance SOCAP’s conversation about digital inclusion by hearing directly from the leaders of three inclusive fintech startups. They will share their experiences in finding the right balance of technology and human touch as they’ve adapted and responded to the pandemic in their own markets. The leader of portfolio engagement at Accion Venture Lab, a leading seed-stage investor in fintech for the underserved and part of global nonprofit Accion, would facilitate a conversation; the participants are all strong speakers and provide a range of insights across geographies and focus areas. The panel will provide actionable insights for entrepreneurs, investors, funders, and a wide range of stakeholders working to advance digital inclusion. NOTE: We propose the leaders of three inclusive fintech startups for this session: Field Intelligence (leveraging AI and data analytics to help community pharmacies in Nigeria and Kenya), Henry (expanding access to tech education in Latin America), and Pula (supporting smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa). We have included one of these speakers below.
Audiences
Allocators (Family Offices, HNW Individuals, Foundations)
Corporate & SME
Accelerators & Incubators
Government
Entrepreneurs
Speakers
- NameMatt Schaar
- TitleSenior Director of Portfolio Engagement
- OrganizationAccion Venture Lab
- StatusConfirmed
- NameLuz Borchardt
- TitleCo-Founder
- OrganizationHenry
- StatusConfirmed
