The Power of Trust in Digital Finance
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 7:57 am
For more than 50 years, trust has been a key element of Opportunity International’s work to empower people around the world with financial services, training and support so they can work their way out of poverty. In our earliest days, we built trust by establishing and growing microfinance institutions (MFIs) rooted in one-on-one relationships with our loan clients. As we grew, we launched Trust Groups—peer networks in which women in a group would guarantee each other’s loans and pay the loan of members who might default. And today, as we seek to scale existing programs, launch new ones and increase opportunities for the most marginalized, trust is even more central to our success. It’s especially essential when it comes to technological solutions designed to improve the lives of those living in extreme poverty—who often earn around US $2 per day.
Trust can be a significant barrier to engagement in digital financial services among these low-income users—particularly women, who often exhibit a higher lack of trust in the banking system and in digital tools. Providers must often take measures to address this trust deficit when developing digital financial services that target women customers. For instance, after a recent study carried out by Opportunity and one of our partnering MFIs found that women are less likely to have confidence in digital systems brazil whatsapp number data than men, the MFI built a campaign aimed at building trust among women, to improve their registration and active use of its mobile banking platform.
When Opportunity International is designing and delivering digital financial services for our customers, trust is one of the four key elements we prioritize, which include: high-trust, high-touch, high-tech and high-impact. First, we build trust with clients through relationships, honest business practices and transparency. We work with existing trusted partners to develop new technologies, and we operate with the utmost integrity to ensure that clients feel confident in their interactions with us. Because we know that technology often comes with a steep learning curve, our work is also high-touch—reliant on peer-to-peer and staff-to-peer relationships to answer questions, provide training and support users as they familiarize themselves with new tools. We leverage high-tech approaches, ensuring that we’re using the best tools available to provide simple, effective solutions to those who need them most. Combined, these three elements lead to high impact, helping us to narrow the digital divide and increase access to and use of the financial tools people need to move out of extreme poverty.
According to the World Economic Forum, 2.9 billion people lack opportunities to access the internet and engage with the digital economy. This digital divide is at the center of the Trusted Tech Microfinance Initiative, a partnership announced this spring between Opportunity and the Krach Institute, which aims to leverage the transformative power of trust to reduce this gap in low-income countries. The partnership will use trusted technology that is safe and reliable to help ensure that financially excluded people at the bottom of the global economic pyramid have access to the best technology products, online education and training. Through this initiative, we hope to develop digital products and services that will enable micro and small businesses in emerging economies to operate more efficiently and achieve better business outcomes, which will enhance the quality of life of these entrepreneurs and their families.
Trust can be a significant barrier to engagement in digital financial services among these low-income users—particularly women, who often exhibit a higher lack of trust in the banking system and in digital tools. Providers must often take measures to address this trust deficit when developing digital financial services that target women customers. For instance, after a recent study carried out by Opportunity and one of our partnering MFIs found that women are less likely to have confidence in digital systems brazil whatsapp number data than men, the MFI built a campaign aimed at building trust among women, to improve their registration and active use of its mobile banking platform.
When Opportunity International is designing and delivering digital financial services for our customers, trust is one of the four key elements we prioritize, which include: high-trust, high-touch, high-tech and high-impact. First, we build trust with clients through relationships, honest business practices and transparency. We work with existing trusted partners to develop new technologies, and we operate with the utmost integrity to ensure that clients feel confident in their interactions with us. Because we know that technology often comes with a steep learning curve, our work is also high-touch—reliant on peer-to-peer and staff-to-peer relationships to answer questions, provide training and support users as they familiarize themselves with new tools. We leverage high-tech approaches, ensuring that we’re using the best tools available to provide simple, effective solutions to those who need them most. Combined, these three elements lead to high impact, helping us to narrow the digital divide and increase access to and use of the financial tools people need to move out of extreme poverty.
According to the World Economic Forum, 2.9 billion people lack opportunities to access the internet and engage with the digital economy. This digital divide is at the center of the Trusted Tech Microfinance Initiative, a partnership announced this spring between Opportunity and the Krach Institute, which aims to leverage the transformative power of trust to reduce this gap in low-income countries. The partnership will use trusted technology that is safe and reliable to help ensure that financially excluded people at the bottom of the global economic pyramid have access to the best technology products, online education and training. Through this initiative, we hope to develop digital products and services that will enable micro and small businesses in emerging economies to operate more efficiently and achieve better business outcomes, which will enhance the quality of life of these entrepreneurs and their families.