How Fintech Can Make Financial Services More Inclusive

Financial inclusion is moving beyond the question of whether consumers and businesses can open an account. Increasingly, the bigger question is whether financial products are affordable, understandable and designed around the people expected to use them.

The opportunity remains significant. While account ownership has continued to rise globally, gaps persist among people facing barriers related to income, geography, digital access, financial literacy and other circumstances. Expanding access, therefore, requires more than putting traditional financial services online.

Members of the Senior Executive FinTech Think Tank bring a practitioner perspective to this challenge, examining how payment technology, digital financial services and AI can expand access without creating new barriers. Their insights point to a common principle: Financial inclusion is not achieved simply by digitizing financial services. It requires designing those services so more people can understand, trust and use them.

“Companies need simple pricing, multilingual support, transparent terms, flexible payment options and human assistance when needed.”

– Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc.

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Lowering The Barriers To Financial Access

For many consumers and small businesses, traditional financial services can be difficult to navigate because of cost, complexity or requirements that do not reflect their circumstances. Fintech can change that equation by using technology to reduce friction and make financial tools available to people who may otherwise be overlooked.

Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc., brings more than two decades of experience in payments and financial technology. Founded in 2001, Nationwide Payment Systems serves businesses across the United States, including retail, restaurants and hospitality, B2B and wholesale, e-commerce, SaaS platforms and regulated or complex payment environments. 

Kopelman, who is also the host of B2B Vault, a podcast focused on business, sales, AI, operations and other issues affecting businesses, says fintech’s ability to advance financial inclusion starts with lowering the barriers that have traditionally made financial services difficult or expensive to access.

“Fintech companies are expanding financial inclusion by using technology to lower costs, simplify onboarding and reach customers that traditional financial institutions may overlook,” Kopelman explains.

He points to several technologies that can expand access, including mobile banking, digital wallets, alternative underwriting, faster payments and embedded financial services.

“These can give small businesses and consumers access to tools that were previously difficult or expensive to obtain,” he says.

The opportunity extends beyond consumers. Digital payment activity can create financial information that may help lenders better understand a small business’s revenue and transaction history, potentially opening additional pathways to credit.

For businesses that have struggled to establish traditional credit histories, the ability to demonstrate financial activity through digital transactions can be particularly valuable. It also shows how fintech can serve as more than a convenient alternative to traditional financial services. Payment technology can become an entry point into a broader financial relationship.

But Kopelman cautions that digital availability is only the starting point.

“The key is making these products genuinely accessible, not just digital,” Kopelman says.

That distinction is important as fintech companies compete to acquire users. A mobile-first product can technically reach someone without necessarily making the financial system easier to understand or navigate.

Kopelman identifies several practical ways companies can address that problem.

“Companies need simple pricing, multilingual support, transparent terms, flexible payment options and human assistance when needed,” he says.

In other words, financial inclusion depends not only on who can access a product but also on whether the product accommodates the circumstances of the people using it.

“Millions of people remain underserved because of disability, vulnerability, language, financial literacy or simply because traditional financial services were never designed around how they understand and make financial decisions.”

– Tamara Kostova, Founder and CEO of AllVesta

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Making Financial Services Easier To Understand

Expanding access addresses one side of financial inclusion. But gaining access to a financial product does not necessarily mean someone understands it, feels comfortable using it or has the confidence to make decisions.

Tamara Kostova, Founder and CEO of AllVesta, approaches the issue from the perspective of investor behavior and financial technology. She has more than 20 years of experience spanning capital markets, banking and financial technology. She previously founded and scaled Velexa, a WealthTech100 company that partnered with banks, brokers and wealth firms to expand access to regulated digital investing infrastructure across Europe, the U.S., Asia and the Middle East before its successful acquisition in 2025.

Today, Kostova is building AllVesta, which describes itself as the behavioral intelligence layer for retail investing. The company uses AI-powered Investor DNA and personalized behavioral journeys to help financial institutions understand the confidence gaps, behavioral barriers and decision patterns that can prevent retail savers from becoming long-term investors.

Kostova says financial inclusion must begin with a more fundamental question than whether someone can access a financial product.

“Financial inclusion needs to go beyond giving people access to an account or an app,” Kostova says. “We also need to ask: access for whom, and designed around whose needs?”

That perspective expands the definition of who may be underserved. People can have access to financial products while still struggling to use them effectively because of disability, language barriers, financial literacy or uncertainty about how to make financial decisions.

“Millions of people remain underserved because of disability, vulnerability, language, financial literacy or simply because traditional financial services were never designed around how they understand and make financial decisions,” she says.

This is where AI can potentially move beyond automation and become a tool for personalization. Rather than presenting every customer with the same educational material or interface, financial technology can adapt information to different levels of knowledge and confidence.

Kostova describes a model in which financial education becomes conversational, multilingual and adaptive, using simpler language, voice and other accessible formats to meet people at their individual level.

For instance, a customer with limited financial knowledge might receive a simpler explanation of an investment product, information in their preferred language or voice-based guidance rather than having to interpret a dense financial disclosure independently.

“For underbanked communities, that means combining access with education and guidance at the moment it is needed, rather than expecting people to navigate complex financial systems alone,” Kostova says.

That approach is particularly relevant to investing, where having access to an account does not necessarily translate into participation. AllVesta focuses on identifying behavioral barriers and confidence gaps that can prevent retail savers from taking action.

The broader implication is that fintech companies should measure inclusion by what happens after acquisition. Account openings, app downloads and customer counts can measure reach, but they do not necessarily show whether customers understand the products or feel confident using them.

For fintech leaders, that means personalization should not be viewed solely as a customer-experience feature. It can also become an inclusion strategy by helping financial institutions communicate with customers in ways that reflect their knowledge, circumstances and decision-making needs.

Kostova’s perspective points toward a more ambitious standard for the industry.

“True financial inclusion isn’t just giving everyone access to the same financial system,” Kostova says. “It’s designing a system that more people can actually understand, trust and use.”

Takeaways for Building More Inclusive Financial Services

• Design for accessibility from the beginning. Consider language, disability, financial literacy and different levels of digital comfort when developing financial products.
• Reduce friction without eliminating human support. Simplified onboarding and digital tools can improve access, but customers should still be able to receive personal assistance when needed.
• Use payments as a potential gateway to broader financial services. Digital transaction histories can help create additional information about consumers and businesses that may support access to other financial products.
• Treat education as part of the product experience. Provide financial guidance when customers are making decisions rather than expecting them to navigate complex systems independently.
• Use AI to personalize financial information. Conversational, multilingual and adaptive tools can help customers receive information in ways that better match their knowledge and confidence.
• Measure inclusion beyond acquisition. Account openings and downloads demonstrate reach, but continued engagement, understanding and customer confidence can provide a more meaningful picture of inclusion.

Designing Finance For More People

Financial inclusion is entering a more sophisticated phase. The question is no longer simply whether fintech can bring financial services to people who have historically lacked access. It is whether those services can be designed around the realities, limitations and behaviors of the people they are intended to serve.

The opportunity is substantial. As digital payments, AI, alternative data and embedded financial services continue to evolve, fintech companies can reduce costs and expand reach while creating more personalized financial experiences. But the members of the FinTech Think Tank point to an important condition: Technology must remove barriers rather than move them into a digital environment.

The fintech companies that make the greatest contribution to financial inclusion may ultimately be those that combine access with understanding, giving underserved customers not only a way into the financial system but also the clarity and confidence to participate.