What Makes a Fintech Inclusive?

Gayatri Murthy has spent nearly 10 years researching and consulting on what low-income people want and how digital technologies can help fill the gaps to financial inclusion. At CGAP, she is leading research on how FinTech startups can catalyze financial inclusion. She is also working with policy makers to ensure data protection and privacy policy empowers customers and supports responsible innovation. Ms. Murthy also specializes in training financial institutions to generate high-quality customer insights and then use them to build customer-centric business models. She has a Master’s degree in International Communication from the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India. She is fluent in Hindi.

Maelis is the Deputy Director of the Inclusive Fintech team at BFA. She spent over 10 years solving financial inclusion challenges alongside impact investors, development finance institutions, microfinance banks, and fintech startups. At BFA, she runs Catalyst Fund, a global accelerator program supporting early-stage inclusive fintech startups in emerging markets with grant capital, flexible venture building services and access to investors. She also runs OPTIX, a program with MetLife Foundation supporting brick-and-mortar financial institutions to future-proof and build portfolios of services that improve the financial health of people on low incomes. She joins BFA from the International Finance Corporation, where she advised financial institutions on digital innovation and responsible financial inclusion strategies to serve the under-banked. Maelis is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a dual MBA and Master in International Affairs from Columbia Business School and the School of International and Public Affairs. 

Machal leads the impact management of CDC’s investments in financial services across products, and has previously worked for LeapFrog Investments, Oxford Policy Management and the MasterCard Foundation. She is currently also a Director for the Financial Inclusion Forum for the UK.

Sarah Willis is the Director of Financial Health & Inclusion at MetLife Foundation where she oversees a global portfolio of financial inclusion initiatives focused on digital and innovation. In addition, she leads the strategy and implementation of the Foundation’s outcomes measurement efforts. Prior to joining MetLife Foundation, Sarah served as a senior associate at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), where she worked on CGI’s expansion into Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She has designed and authored research on private sector-led solutions to SME development in Turkey with the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth.

Camilla is the CEO of MIX, the leading global data resource for inclusive finance. She has twenty  years of experience in banking and financial inclusion, with deep expertise in building new business models to reach the poor and impact investing. Before joining MIX, she spent over a decade in leadership roles at Grameen Foundation, most recently as senior vice president of programs, driving innovative programming at the intersection of financial inclusion, agriculture and health. While overseeing Grameen’s impact investing arm, she expanded the portfolio to invest in new sectors, including agriculture and emerging technology. Previously, she worked at Citigroup executing debt financing for emerging markets firms.