Money, Access, and Scale: The Evolution of Financial Technology | Global Conference 2025

Economic Gaps and Market Scale

• Approximately 4 billion people remain financially underserved globally, including 1.3 billion unbanked and 2 billion without internet access.
• An estimated 4 billion people lack verifiable physical addresses, creating significant barriers to traditional financial onboarding.
• Global remittance flows exceed $2 trillion annually, representing a critical lifeline where remittances account for 10–25% of GDP in several developing nations.
• The World Bank reports 1.2 billion young people entering emerging labor markets, with a projected shortfall of 800 million jobs (only 400 million anticipated).

Key Organizational Strategies and Milestones

• Remitly (Matt Oppenheimer):
  • Achieved $50+ billion in annual remittance volume by 2014 and reached 7.8 million quarterly active users.
  • Successfully reduced average transaction costs from a 15% industry standard to a 2–2.5% range for the company.
  • Went public in September 2021, though market share remains minimal relative to the total $2 trillion global flow.
  • Identified "trust" as the primary consumer friction point, noting that low pricing can erode trust if delivery reliability is compromised.
• Tools for Humanity / Worldcoin (Ambassador Trevor Trena):
  • Developed "Proof of Personhood," a biometric identity system designed to verify unique humans and combat AI-generated fraud.
  • As of the panel, 26 million users have the application installed, with 12 million verified as human; projections aim for over 100 million by year-end.
  • Distributes "World" cryptocurrency tokens to users, providing economic value and voting rights within the protocol.
  • Operates actively in Latin America, Kenya, parts of Europe, and Asia, targeting a scalable infrastructure for billions of users.
• Future Perfect Ventures (Jalik Jobim-Prucha):
  • Invested in digital assets and infrastructure since 2014 to move beyond siloed financial systems toward seamless global connectivity.
  • Advocates for tokenizing real-world assets (e.g., real estate, art) to enable fractional ownership and instant liquidity.
  • Highlights the 2023 approval of Bitcoin ETFs as a pivotal moment for institutional validation and safer retail access.
• MOVE (Lottie Delano):
  • Scaled from 76 cars in Lagos, Nigeria, to nearly 40,000 vehicles across 20 global cities, including a recent entry into Latin America via Brazil.
  • Utilizes revenue-based vehicle financing and API integration with ride-hailing platforms to generate credit scores based on driver performance rather than traditional credit history.
  • Secured a strategic partnership with Waymo to pilot autonomous vehicle fleet ownership models for drivers.
• Redemption Bank / Ready Life (Ashley Bell):
  • Chartered Redemption Bank, the first African-American-owned bank in the Rocky Mountains, focusing on impact-driven lending.
  • Launched Ready Finance to offer hard money lending for homeownership based on rent history rather than traditional credit scores.
  • Located headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, to leverage high-deposit environments and digital reach while serving underserved communities nationally.
  • Secured board members from major sports leagues (NBA, MLS) to bolster balance sheet stability for future crypto-related banking.

Technological Trends and Infrastructure

• AI and Identity:
  • AI algorithms are capable of creating deep-fake KYC (Know Your Customer) documents, such as faked driver's licenses, necessitating stronger biometric verification.
  • Tools for Humanity's system uses iris photography to generate anonymous numeric codes, storing no personal data while verifying human uniqueness.
• Blockchain and Asset Tokenization:
  • Blockchain enables the fractionalization of assets like real estate and art, allowing younger generations to own and earn interest on items previously inaccessible.
  • Digital assets allow users to collateralize holdings (e.g., Bitcoin) for instant loans, bypassing the delays associated with traditional HELOCs.
  • Stablecoins and digital identity are being explored to hedge against currency devaluation in emerging markets (e.g., Nigeria's Naira depreciating from 360 to 1,600 in five years).
• Regulatory Evolution:
  • The SEC approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs is viewed as a catalyst for broader institutional adoption and reduced perceived risk.
  • Regulatory clarity remains a variable driver of innovation, with different countries adopting crypto and stablecoin frameworks at varying speeds.

Barriers and Solutions

• Barriers to Scale:
  • Trust: Remitly and Redemption Bank identify building consumer trust as the primary hurdle, as customers often distrust digital platforms with high-value transfers.
  • Credit Scores: Ashley Bell notes that the "big three" credit bureaus exclude 54% of people of color from home ownership, creating a systemic barrier to economic mobility.
  • Fraud: The FTX collapse highlighted the need for real-time on-chain fraud prevention rather than post-fact recovery.
  • Capital Access: Founders in emerging markets often lack access to early-stage capital, despite possessing viable solutions to local institutional voids.
• Proposed Solutions:
  • Alternative Data: Using rent history, ride-hailing performance, and mobile money data to create creditworthiness for the "credit invisible."
  • Digital-First Banking: Establishing fully digital, impact-driven banks in high-wealth regions to serve global underserved populations without physical branch limitations.
  • Fleet Ownership Models: Transitioning drivers from individual operators to owners of autonomous vehicle fleets to increase earning potential and create business owners.

Call to Action and Future Outlook

• Consumer Banking Choices: Ashley Bell urges individuals to audit their banking institutions to ensure their capital supports values-aligned, impact-driven enterprises.
• Investment Focus: Investors are encouraged to look beyond domestic markets to fund high-growth innovation in emerging economies.
• AI Impact: The panel emphasizes that Artificial Intelligence is a transformative force comparable to the steam engine, requiring all sectors to adapt their operational models immediately.
• Democratization: A core message for the future is the empowerment of those currently credit-invisible through technology that bypasses traditional gatekeepers.