How can we provide financially excluded individuals and small businesses with the tools they need to withstand financial shocks and build wealth? More than 1.8 billion adults remain unbanked or underserved by existing financial products and services, leaving them unable to pursue economic opportunities, vulnerable to shocks, and at risk of permanent debt or even modern slavery. While the number of people with formal accounts has increased, with mobile phones as a key factor, innovation is still needed to give underserved or excluded populations the ability to securely transfer and save funds, borrow money, and manage risk with insurance, both for individuals and their micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Factors contributing to financial exclusion include lack of access to the internet and financial services providers, unclear explanations about product offerings, lack of formal identification, and discrimination, particularly against women, ethnic minorities, people of color, people with disabilities, displaced communities, and low-income populations. Ensuring access to tools that enable everyone to take risks, plan for the future, and weather upheavals will require tailored solutions that provide equitable access to affordable financial services. Technology and innovation can help both increase access to appropriate services and create products, such as digitally secured loans or time-indexed micro-insurance, that meet the financial needs of the unbanked and underbanked.

VALUE

• All Solver teams selected for the Solve Global Challenges and the Indigenous Communities Fellowship will receive a grant of $10,000 funded by Solve.

ELIGIBILITY

• Open to all nationalities
• Those aged 18 and over are eligible to apply.

To apply and for more information visit here.