FINANCIAL SERVICES
Millions of people remain excluded from mainstream financial services despite living in economies that depend on digital money movement. Technological solutions exist, but have often failed to reach those who need them most.
FinTech Magazine speaks exclusively with Steve Round, Co-founder and President of SaaScada, about concrete ways banks can expand access to quality financial services while maintaining commercial success.
Merging profit and purpose Banks have long maintained that serving certain demographics simply isn’ t profitable, relegating financial inclusion to corporate social responsibility departments rather than integrating it into core business strategy.
Steve challenges this separation, arguing that technological advances have made it possible to achieve both commercial success and social impact simultaneously.
“ Balancing commercial imperatives with financial inclusivity is key to driving both business success and social impact,” he says.
“ At SaaScada, we believe that recent advances in technology can serve both purposes simultaneously, increasing share of wallet and improving the customer experience, while delivering tangible social value.”
SaaScada’ s platform emerged from a desire to build a low-cost, agile solution that allows banks to quickly and costeffectively launch optimal products for diverse audiences.
Steve’ s work with the Big Issue Foundation directly informed his approach to banking technology.
During his tenure there, he observed how conventional banking systems failed to accommodate the needs of people experiencing homelessness and financial hardship.
“ Our core banking platform allows financial institutions to develop personalised, feature-rich products that deliver value to the widest base of customers,” Steve explains.
“ Customers who don’ t meet single-metric measures of eligibility in traditional banks still deserve access to quality financial services, rather than being relegated to second-class products.”
Reimagining accessibility The shift to digital banking creates risks of excluding those with limited tech access or comfort. Steve identifies practical solutions to this challenge, focusing on design principles that reduce barriers to entry.
Rather than expecting customers to adapt to complex financial interfaces, he proposes rebuilding these systems with accessibility as a core principle.
“ The key to improving access to finance is to demystify the complexities that are often associated with it,” he says.
“ Part of this is ensuring that the onboarding process for any financial product is as easy as possible for users.
“ New financial products need to be mobile-friendly, even taking the form of gamification – moving it
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