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Agentic AI, stablecoins, inclusive insurance, and pensions for informal workers are reshaping finance for vulnerable communities, but what questions do they raise?
Inclusive Finance Frontiers returns with a new limited series exploring how emerging technologies and innovative approaches can help people navigate risk, build resilience, and access opportunity—if used responsibly.
Hear from regulators, fintech innovators, investors, global experts, and, most importantly, the people on the receiving end of financial services.
Listen and subscribe for free on your favorite platform. To learn more, visit www.cgap.org. If you have any feedback, connect with us at podcast@cgap.org.
Transcript
Gabriela Eguidazu, Vice President Digital transformation and innovation, FMBBVA: I believe AI can really be a change maker in alternative scoring because there is a lot of alternative data that can be ready to use and this could generate a really big impact in financial inclusion.
Monica Brand Engel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Quona: AI and more specifically agentic artificial intelligence has been a complete game changer in our existing portfolio.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: AI is rewriting the rules of who gets access to financial services. But the same AI tools that expand access can be turned against the people they're meant to serve.
Nandini Harihareswara, Director, Fair Digital Finance, Consumers International: I could see a future, if we don't really do something effective on scams and fraud, where people go back to in-person banking commerce, and they will only trust a person that they see and interact with.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: This demands a response, but who's equipped to provide it?
Iota Nassr, Senior Analyst, OECD: One of the key issues with the supervision of AI in finance that we have identified in OECD analysis is actually the capacity element of supervisors.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: Beyond algorithms and credit scores, entirely new tools are getting money to people where traditional systems never could. Take stablecoins. In crisis zones where banks can't reach, digital currencies are getting money where it needs to go, and fast.
Ezechiel Copic, Director, Digital Currency Policy, Visa: Stablecoins are a digital asset that is built on a distributed ledger technology.
Mercina Tilleman Perez, Vice President Circle Impact, Circle: Circle worked to move resources to economically displaced women in Afghanistan.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: And it's not just money in emergencies.
Fiona Stewart, Global Lead on Aging and Pension in the Social Protection Global Practice, World Bank Group: We hear a lot about climate, but this other megatrend of aging I think is one that's not so much on the policy agenda.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: For millions of informal workers, even the idea of a pension has been out of reach… until now.
Gaspard Bayigane, Head of Long-Term Savings Scheme – Ejo Heza, Rwanda Social Security Board: Informal workers, they may earn daily, they have seasonal and irregular income. Ejo Heza was created to fill that structural gap.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: But what happens when the risks are escalating and the safety nets aren't there?
Dr., The Most Honorable Kevin Greenidge, F.B., Governor, Central Bank of Barbados: Shocks are now becoming the norm. Whether a shock becomes a full-blown crisis financially, economically, or just a loss of three months of work, [and] we're up and running, depends on your preparedness for it.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: Building systems and lives that are resilient comes down to how we design financial systems and who we design them for.
Hope Murera, Managing Director and Group CEO of ZEP-RE: We've only been able to reach people because we looked at how do we make sure that insurance is bundled with other services.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: But real inclusion means being intentional, especially about women.
Charity Mueni, Community Mobilizer, DRIVE: Through this project (DRIVE), when I built those offices, I was able to reach youth and young mothers whom I have empowered, and today they are proud to have food on the table every afternoon.
Lamis Daoud, Host, Inclusive Finance Frontiers: In this latest series, we hear from experts from the financial services ecosystem and beyond, and most importantly the people living with uncertainty every day.
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