technologies made any difference on financial inclusion ? Shanker Ramamurthy , Global Managing Partner for Banking at IBM , believes that it has .
He tells FinTech Magazine that the sector has “ enabled access to financial services and products previously unavailable or inaccessible , reducing poverty and increasing economic growth .”
He cites the example of the Indian Government ’ s Digital India initiative , which aims to transform the country into a digitally enabled society . This has “ significantly increased financial inclusion in India , particularly among the unbanked population ,” Ramamurthy says .
“ According to the World Bank , the percentage of adults with a bank account in India surged from 35 % in 2011 to 80 % in 2021 , largely due to the government ’ s efforts to promote financial inclusion . It also provided women with the autonomy
“ THE RISE OF FINTECH TECHNOLOGIES HAS UNQUESTIONABLY LED TO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FINANCIAL FORTUNES OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ”
SHANKER RAMAMURTHY GLOBAL MANAGING PARTNER FOR BANKING , IBM to manage their finances , helping to narrow the gender gap from 17 % in 2011 to insignificant in 2021 in terms of bank account ownership in India .”
But it ’ s not just India where fintech is making a difference ; emerging fintech solutions have had a positive impact on developing economies in Africa , according to Babs Ogundeyi , CEO of Nigerian-founded finance app Kuda . In part , this is thanks to high smartphone penetration in developing countries ; according to Deloitte , there is now a negligible gap in smartphone penetration between developed and developing countries .
“ Countries like Kenya , Nigeria and South Africa are at the forefront of Africa ’ s fintech boom ,” Ogundeyi says . “ The continent is home to numerous fintech startups that are
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