Digital platforms and ecosystems of financial inclusion. Russian experience

The report explores the growing world of digital financial consumer services. The innovative digital platforms are developed by the new market players, coming from outside of the traditional banking system. These platforms are open in nature allowing for the development of ecosystems of independent participants, such as agents, merchants, application developers. The ecosystems are essential in delivering to the end-consumers the breadth and depth of financial services providing the degree of financial inclusion not achievable within the classic banking. Four cases of Russian financial innovators are studied, who work in different segments of the market: Yandex.Money, Qiwi, 2Can, AxiCredit.

The paper was presented at the conference by the Bank of Russia and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) on the risk mitigation in shadow banking in Moscow, on November 11th 2015.