When was the last time you actually stepped foot in a bank branch?
I thought as much.
Fintech works for many reasons. One is its ease of use. For example, mobile banking apps are great for paying bills. At the click of a button, you can easily pay for products and services in a secure and convenient way.
At the macro level, fintech makes financial services more accessible to the masses. Over the last decade, 1.2 billion previously unbanked adults gained access to financial services, and the unbanked population fell by 35%, largely boosted by the increase in mobile money accounts.
But not everyone is technologically savvy enough to handle digital tools. Also, not everyone trusts technology.
This would explain why many people in the Philippines would rather pay their utility bills at neighborhood convenience stores than through a digital platform.
This is one of the reasons why it is important to educate people about technology and improve technological literacy, highlighted by Philippine fintech startup Peddlr as it rolls out its inventory management and bookkeeping app across the country. Read about it here.
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