How can Fintech help improve financial well-being? With Celo, Fiserv, Token and more

This August at Fintech Times, we want to highlight some of the amazing things fintechs are doing around the world. We always hear about “the latest breakthrough innovation that does good for society,” but do these innovations do good for those already in an advantageous position, or do they help make the world of finance more accessible?

There are many different facets to the concept of “fintech for good”, one of the major benefits being the increased financial well-being of consumers. We have spoken to several companies in the industry to find out more.

Nikhil Raghuveera, Partner in strategy and innovation in Celo Foundation, said: “Traditional finance comes with a host of caveats, transaction costs and other fees that limit certain groups from participating in the economy. Financial exclusion can take a myriad of forms, but they all stem from a lack of documentation or prior wealth, which essentially cuts off people from essential financial tools, be it a bank account, credit, savings solutions or other products. DeFi offers a new paradigm that, if done right with people’s needs and real-world use cases in mind, can support universal financial empowerment. DeFi for the People initiative seeks to make this vision a reality by supporting the development of new decentralized applications.”

Ollie PurduePartner at Antlers, added: “Financial abuse can leave individuals without access to their own bank accounts. This is a terrible situation that many individuals find themselves in, although we are now seeing fintechs develop solutions to help educate individuals and tackle this problem. At Antler, we have invested in the company SuperFi, which provides tools and resources to help individuals with financial literacy, and empower them to be independent. Obviously this is not isolated to just this one area, but simplifying finances can be a real change in people’s lives.

Sunil Sachdevhead of Fintech and growth, at Fiserv believes that with the growth of the API economy, it is now easier than ever to bring disparate data together into a single experience.

“Many fintechs are using this opportunity to help people gain better insight into their overall financial status – giving them the perspective needed to make better-informed financial decisions. Fintechs can also provide greater insight into the financial options available to a individual, such as making it easy to look through multiple loaner cars and choose the one with the best rate. And with advances in AI and machine learning, fintechs can help provide real-time guidance to help people make better financial decisions. By leveraging data to understand an individual’s financial patterns, fintechs can anticipate their needs and even step in with proactive offers that help them avoid financial penalties like overdrafts.Infusing financial education into the fintech experience can also go a long way in putting people on the road to financial security.”

Brendan Playford, founder and CEO of Masa Finance, said: “With the right platforms and education, people can use fintech tools to increase the likelihood of overall financial stability, financial freedom and financial inclusion.

He added: “We are very focused on building solutions that facilitate personal ownership of financial data. If a person owns their data, they can better understand the benefits and transfer it or share it with the financial provider of their choice. Financial well-being is about control and understanding. At the moment, most people don’t either.”

managing director i Token, Todd Clyde, believes better payments can help create better cash flow.

He said: “Sellers are paying more than ever to sell their goods and services. Open Banking payments are significantly lower costs for merchants and offer savings that can be passed on to consumers facing general cost of living pressures.”

“Great Britain The Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) recently reported that since the UK left the EU, Visa and Mastercard have quintupled the scheme and processing fees. The body is now starting the review of these fees “to understand the rationale behind these increases and whether they are an indication that the market is not working well.”

“But merchants don’t have to wait for regulators to step in before they can deal with rising payment costs.

“As Helen Dickinson, managing director i British Retail Consortium, recently commented: “UK households and businesses continue to feel the pressure from rising prices (…) retailers will continue to try to absorb as much of these costs as possible and look for cost savings elsewhere.”

“Payments is an obvious area for merchants to not only find important cost savings, but also to improve conversion and cash flow.

“Open Banking payments deliver significant cost savings by eliminating arrangement and interchange fees, chargebacks and PCI-DSS compliance costs, resulting in 2-20x lower payment costs for merchants.

“With A2A payments, money is immediately deposited into a merchant’s bank account, improving cash flow – which is critical for businesses in today’s economic climate.”

Rori CadaviecoGM EMEA, Jeeves concluded: “Fintechs have an important role to play in supporting businesses through the current market turmoil, helping them pass savings and efficiencies on to the end consumer. Fundamentally, fintechs are – or have been – early-stage, fast-growing companies themselves, so they understand not only the importance of maintaining a healthy balance sheet, but also the pain points of accessing finance on-demand and the need for crystal-clear visibility into inputs and outputs. Both are essential for businesses to maintain momentum and make smart, informed business decisions that ultimately improve the bottom line.

“Unlike traditional financial services, many fintechs make assessments based on the present value of the income streams, and in turn can recognize potential and support long-term growth. In the past, founders have had to endure detailed audited financial or credit bureau reports before they can access loans, or face long waits only to find out they’ve been turned down. Now, with faster access to working capital – innovative projects are no longer delayed, salary or rent payments are not missed, and businesses can operate with healthy cash flow – increasing efficiency and improving financial well-being all the way down to the end user.”