This year’s Singapore Fintech Festival surrounds six major themes that will frame 2025. 

One of the themes among industry leaders, in particular, is the need to bridge the financial gap and ensure equitable access and usage of financial services and products to the underserved. 

On this note, did you know that 1.4 billion people globally still lack access to bank accounts? Yes, and that is according to an article published on the World Economic Forum in just September this year. 

So what can we then do to level the playing field for the underbanked and underserved – both individuals and budding entrepreneurs who are starting out? 

Well, the numbers appear to point to fintech as the answer, given increased internet adoption and digitalisation.

In this panel discussion on "Bridging the Financial Gap", we talked about the challenges individuals as well as Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises faced in accessing traditional financial services and how the use of digital banking and digital tokens can level the playing field for the underserved. 

We also looked at the metrics used to determine progress towards equitable financial outcomes and identify areas for further intervention, and the need to ensure that digital technologies continue to narrow and not widen the wealth gap. 

As part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian spoke with Kai Qiu, Deputy CEO and CTO, ANEXT Bank and Eric Barbier, CEO, Triple-A for more.