Light-touch regulation of 'fintech' is critical for financial inclusion, say experts

Regulators in developing countries need to find a new approach to supervising digital financial services or they risk hampering the efforts to increase financial inclusion, researchers have warned. Ross Buckley, chair of international finance law and Scientia Professor at UNSW Australia, said over-regulation posed the greatest threat to the development of the nascent fintech industry in developing countries. In many poorer areas the combination of finance and telecommunications technology was the only way to deliver banking services cost-effectively, he said.