How fintech is expanding the borders of financial inclusion

Fintech start-ups in recent years have managed to solve a number of pressing issues in the financial services industry, be it for businesses or consumers. Many fintech firms have also emerged to cater to the vast number of unbanked and underbanked people across the world.

Fintech should be doing more to help the most vulnerable

However, while many firms seek to provide accessibility to basic financial services to the masses, not quite so many have sharpened their focus and risen to the challenge of making financial services more accessible and easier to use for disabled or vulnerable people who may be in need of more specialised products and services.

A quick Google search will tell you that while there are some start-ups serving this segment exclusively, the number of such start-ups is far from satisfactory.

This lack of options, coupled with lived experiences, has driven some founders towards building their own solutions, while other larger financial services firms have also been taking more action. FinTech Futures speaks to some of them.

Sibstar – a fintech for people with dementia

Jayne Sibley, co-founder of Sibstar, had the idea to launch her fintech start-up based on her own experience of caring for her parents, both of whom have dementia.

After her parents began mismanaging their hard-earned money due to their condition and fell victim to scams over the phone, Sibley had to take away their access to their own money.

“The minute you take away someone’s access to their money, you take away their financial independence,” Sibley remarks. “Just because you have dementia doesn’t mean that life should stop.”

Sibstar offers an app and debit card for people with dementia

On trying out a number of solutions, none of which worked, Sibley and her family decided to build one themselves, which is how Sibstar was founded. It operates a mobile app that sits on a caregiver’s phone and provides a debit card that can be loaded with a chosen amount of money. Features include daily and monthly spend limits, the option to “instantly” freeze and unfreeze the card, and real-time notifications of transactions on the caregiver’s phone.

The app has been built in partnership with Mastercard and the Alzheimer’s Society, with Sibley stating they’re only at the beginning of their journey.

“We are enabling people living with dementia to remain financially included in the world, so they can go about and live their lives the way they want and remain independent for longer.”

Launched in March 2023, Sibstar has big plans for the new year. Sibley says it is already in discussions about partnerships with two high-street UK banks, a lifestyle brand and a society in the UK.

Commenting on Sibstar’s offering, Sibley says: “We do know two banks who have tried and failed [to build such an offering].

“We’ve built it based on our lived experience, our deep insight of the challenges that families face, stuck to that and have delivered against the true need that is unmet in this marketplace at the moment.

“I think the future of fintech is delivering services for these underserved audiences through the collaboration of fintech, private and public sector.”

Mastercard’s efforts

Payments giant Mastercard has not only helped a start-up like Sibstar bloom, but has itself emerged as a strong supporter of such start-ups in the space, leading a number of initiatives and partnerships, writing reports and making investments towards improving financial inclusion among disabled people over the last few years.

A notable invention from the payments giant was the launch of its Touch Card in October 2021. As new card designs remove the embossing of names and card numbers, Mastercard launched its Touch Card for the visually impaired to help them identify and use the right cards.

The Touch Card initiative features a round notch for debit cards, a square notch for credit cards and a triangular notch for prepaid cards. It has been co-designed with Idemia, a global identity and biometric solutions provider, and has been vetted by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the UK.

“What many don’t realise is that it can be a real struggle for the billions of people who are blind and low vision to identify and use their payment cards. That’s why we created Touch Card,” says Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer and president, healthcare at Mastercard.

Mastercard’s Touch Card

“The idea for Touch Card sparked in a very organic way. A colleague attended an inclusion talk at SXSW, where they spoke about shampoo bottles that were designed with the blind and partially sighted in mind. That idea made us think, why not payment cards?

“To bring this idea to life, we worked cross-functionally within our team, agencies and outside partners like The Royal National Institute of Blind People, who provided invaluable insights and feedback.

“They helped us understand the true difficulties people who are blind and low vision face when turning for their payment cards and helped us develop a product that will have lasting societal impact. Their guidance also allowed us to build trust with the community and communicate with them in a way that felt authentic.”

Rajamannar adds that since its launch, the Touch Card has received an “overwhelmingly positive” response from customers. Last year, it rolled out the card in the US and the feature is now available with financial institutions around the world.

Commenting on what can be done better to address this segment, Rajamannar says: “While some progress has been made, there’s a tremendous opportunity to better address the needs of the differently abled.

“Approximately 16% of the world’s population experience significant disability [according to data from the World Health Organisation] – that’s 1 in 6 of us. This is a growing market segment that businesses should not ignore.

“Catering to the unique needs of consumers offers immense potential for businesses to create impactful solutions that make people’s lives easier and better while building loyalty and trust for the brand. This is not just philanthropy. There is a sound business case.”

US start-ups take the lead

Over in the US, Florida-based challenger Purple is gearing up for launch to serve the country’s disabled community. On its website, Purple says it offers “mobile banking for people with disabilities”, offering an ABLE account (tax-advantaged savings account), automated Qualified Disability Expense (QDE) spends, a debit card that can be frozen at any time and the option to access Social Security benefits up to two days early. As of January 2024, Purple was inviting customers to sign up to its waitlist.

Another US-based fintech firm, True Link, offers investment accounts and debit cards for America’s most vulnerable. Founded in 2013, True Link’s mission is to increase the independence and well-being of vulnerable aging citizens, people with disabilities, those recovering from addiction and the people who care for them.

The service allows a family member, professional or other trusted party to set up a safe way for an individual to make day-to-day purchases. The company last raised $35 million in a Series B funding round. As of August last year, it claims to have helped more than 250,000 families and manages more than $1.1 billion in assets.

In conclusion, it’s encouraging to see a number of fintech start-ups launching in this space focusing on helping underserved audiences. However, the relatively small number of such start-ups compared to the size of the industry leaves much to be desired, and fintech and financial services as a whole could be doing much more to help the most vulnerable in society, using the initiatives listed above as inspiration.