Social innovation and financial inclusion in the digital age

In our ever more interconnected world, basic services are becoming increasingly
more accessible and convenient. Nevertheless, for a specific group of people, quite
the opposite is happening. Statistics from 2016 assert that 46.3% of Mexico´s
population lives below the poverty line. The reasons behind this are diverse yet
manageable by addressing them directly through the cooperation of institutions
tackling each one. These problems are ones of education and access to
technology. The former causes a lack of utilization from inadequate information
and the latter stems from a lack of resources.
In Mexico, technological advancement lags behind the rest of the developed world.
Not only does this mean a lack of innovation, this also involves a deficient adoption
of new technologies from a significant part of the population. It is becoming
increasingly more evident that owning a smartphone is crucial in everyday life.
People struggling through homelessness still find themselves in need of a
smartphone, and many of them indeed own one. This expands their possibilities to
use financial services. Steady progress is being made to solve the problem of
widespread public internet access, an area of opportunity for development here in
Mexico. I am convinced that to successfully achieve financial inclusion it is
necessary to expand and homogenize the current network of mobile banking
systems. The poorest sector of the population needs access to microcredit and
other services to assist them in growing their earning potential.
Financial education is important for the general population, yet it is fundamental for
the underprivileged. If there is not proper knowledge on how to manage credit,
correctly save earnings and budgeting practices, there is little hope for any solution
to work efficiently. I believe that integrating financial education into current curricula
beginning in primary education is necessary and not complicated to implement.
That serves as prevention of current problems. However, for educating adults,
there can be programs and campaigns in currently established adult education
centers. Attending these courses must be a prerequisite to seeking credit. They
should also be accessible online and extensively promoted. This lowers the
development costs of the courses as well as making them more accessible to
people in terms of time and location.
When we have the resources available to people as well as them having the ability
to utilized them correctly the problem of financial inclusion can be significantly
reduced. For people in poverty, for young people who are seen as not ready and
for others who are discriminated against, we need to give them the tools and the
preparation necessary for them to grow and contribute to society. They will see
many clear benefits for themselves and for society as a whole.