Wealth Management for the Underserved: What Role Does FinTech Play?

If we take a look at the evolution of FinTech, financial inclusion was a major theme in the early part of the last decade. FinTech was meant to help serve the unserved/underserved, and examples like M-Pesa showcased the potential of how FinTech can influence the lives of millions of people. As FinTech developed and with much wider adoption across segments, we have seen the focus shift to the mainstream with solutions ranging from payments to wealth management.

With the advent of Open Banking and API-driven integration, one has also seen the proliferation of personal finance management FinTechs & solutions mushroom globally. Combined with wealth management solutions, the target segment is usually the upper-middle class to the creamy layer of the market. With the middle-class segment expected to grow significantly in the next decade in APAC, MENA & LATAM, there is a scope for both FinTechs and incumbents to develop solutions to serve this segment of the market as their affordability increases. This can be beneficial to other categories, such as young millennials who are entering the workforce and starting to earn their first salaries, and also useful for the burgeoning participants in the “gig economy.”

Let us now look at some of the key services needed for this segment to enable their wealth creation and wealth management and the examples of startups that are providing these services: 

Financial Literacy

Most people lack access to and the understanding of basic financial management principles and end up spending money or eating up their savings ...