Financial inclusion

The real opportunity to achieve financial empowerment lies with the companies that are most intimately connected to people's lives, says Rapyd's Eric Rosenthal.

At TCF National Bank in Detroit and First National Bank of Omaha, early results from artificial intelligence pilot programs are strong.

The service from Evolve Bank & Trust and Branch lets workers access a piece of their next paycheck to meet unexpected expenses.

Even the homeless are getting on board with contactless payments, through a new U.K. wide initiative between Swedish payments company iZettle and the Big Issue Foundation, which enables homeless people to become street vendors by selling its its Big Issue magazines.

The challenge with cash is its nature makes it hard to transition away from it. On the other end of the scale, digital-only businesses may never accept cash, meaning they may always exclude the cash-based consumer.

Frustrated after being overlooked by mainstream financial institutions, organizers of the proposed Pagan Federal Credit Union are hoping to be chartered by the end of the year.

When she was growing up, Thasunda Duckett's family used crates as furniture and struggled to buy groceries. Now she's become one of JPMorgan Chase's most visible executives, using the lessons of her past to help guide the company's massive branch expansion.

Klar has completed two funding rounds — one for equity and one for debt — raising over $57 million in funding, including Santander’s InnoVentures as an equity investor.

The industry is waiting to see if banks will get the same no-cost land leases on military bases that credit unions currently enjoy.

Thurlow recognized that if she wanted to get serious about reaching the unbanked in her community, she needed to meet people where they were. That meant providing financial products they actually need and giving them access in their native language.