Fintech and Financial Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper analyzes whether fintech can help minimize financial inclusion gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and how governments can leverage fintech development to foster financial inclusion. To this end, the paper:

1. Documents the changes in financial inclusion in LAC since 2014, including new forms of financial inclusion driven by the development of fintech.
2. Investigates whether the emergence of fintech has implied changes in the determinants of financial inclusion.
3. Uses case studies to investigate the role of the regulatory environment in leveraging fintech for financial inclusion.

Throughout the analysis, the paper also considers the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial inclusion directly but also indirectly on the potential development of fintech applications that could in turn support financial inclusion.