By John Shammas, Head of Technical Sales
When you hear the term “financial inclusion”, what comes to mind?
At DriveWealth, it’s the force behind everything we do. Our mission to expand affordable access to U.S. markets and educate investors across the globe is no easy task. Luckily for us, we have a talented team of thinkers, doers, and just about every other “-er” you can think of to make this happen. Financial inclusion goes beyond adding an “invest” button to a digital wallet or mobile app – it’s about giving the people behind the screen the education they need to press that button.
At this year’s Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas, the future of the global financial ecosystem was a major focus of the event, with several panels centered around innovation in underserved regions like LATAM and Africa. The need for increased financial literacy and inclusion around the world remains top of mind for us, our partners, and the greater fintech industry. In fact, globally, 76% of adults today have a financial account, but 84% own a smartphone – this means that almost 600 million people worldwide don’t have a financial account but own a smartphone. That’s why we’ve been working hard to identify the barriers to financial inclusion and, more importantly, how to break them down worldwide.
Our team approached Money20/20 with this in mind. We showcased a demo of our Round-Up offering, giving attendees a glimpse into how easily our partners’ customers can round-up purchases into fractional shares of U.S. equities when purchasing products from companies they know and love. For example, if a retail investor buys a cup of coffee at their favorite coffee shop that costs $4.12, the $0.88 change from their purchase will automatically be invested into a fraction of a share that the investor can hold for the long-term. It’s that simple – a seamless experience we create for our partners so they can place the markets in the palm of their 12 million customers’ hands worldwide. As a result, we’re giving investors (many of whom are first-timers) the confidence to take charge of their financial futures.
Since we were able to get our mission in front of some of the industry’s biggest players through this demo, we wanted to use this opportunity to pay it forward. For the second year in a row, we donated the proceeds from the investments shown through our demo to Moneythink, a nonprofit organization providing financial and career coaching to students nationwide. Supporting organizations that share our passion for financial opportunity allows us to inspire the next generation of investors – a really powerful goal that we’re thrilled to work with the industry to achieve.
We’ve got big plans for the future of investing that are driven by promoting financial inclusion worldwide. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can work together to fulfill this mission, get in touch with us here.