DESIGNING A PORTFOLIO OF INNOVATIONS LEVERAGING FINTECH FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION
UNDP Accelerator Lab commissioned this innovations project in response to the need to further investigate key lessons surfaced from its Adaptable Digitally-Enabled Post-crisis Transformation or ADEPT initiative in Pasig City, specifically how digital financial services or Fintech can provide accessible and viable options for vulnerable groups in order to support sustained impact for financial inclusion.
The brief was to explore three underlying assumptions about the role of Fintech in driving financial inclusion, specifically that:
digital wallets can provide an alternative option in securing one’s savings to build financial resilience, especially among vulnerable groups
digital transactions provide the potential to build a financial footprint that can enable access to formal finance (e.g. credit, in lieu of loan sharks), highlighting the need for an effective digital payment ecosystem to facilitate these
financial and mobile money literacy (FMML) is key to DFS adoption and use.
the challenge
the work
As Project Co-Lead, the work involved the planning and implementation of the innovation process: Discover - Design - Delivery to arrive at a “Portfolio of Innovations.” This included a Rapid Ethnography around consumption and finance-related behaviors among Pasig City residents including those from marginalized sectors, the facilitation of a multi stakeholder Ideation lab with participants from UNDP, government, fintech, central bank and consumers.
the outputs
A portfolio of innovation ideas around enabling access to DFS centered around a local, city-wide market ecosystem which leveraged the power of social network effects. This was inspired by Visions of the Future of a Digitally-Enabled Pasig City resulting in ideas such as bespoke financial literacy programs, digital payment systems for community trade and digital access to basic services such as local transportation.
