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Access to credit is more than a financial serviceāitās an engine for growth. It helps SMEs expand, create jobs, and fund innovation. But in Southeast Asia, where millions remain underbanked or underserved, āaccessā without transparency can quickly become
exploitation.
Financial Inclusion Must Mean Dignity
Financial inclusion means everyoneāregardless of income, social status, or locationāhas access to useful and affordable financial products such as payments, savings, credit, and insurance, and can use them safely and with dignity.
inclusion turns into another trap.
The Broken System
someone to present themselves as a broker.Ā
What Impact-First Lending Should Look Like
Impact-first design means removing middlemen incentives that conflict with borrower interests. Instead of steering to one lender, an honest marketplace connects borrowers directly to multiple licensed lenders, each submitting real, binding offersānot justĀ generic
āas low asā ads.
The Way Forward
SEAās fintech sector prides itself on leapfrogging legacy models. But if we donāt address this transparency gap, we risk replicating the same systemic harm we claim to disrupt. Curbing unfair lending practices isnāt just consumer protectionāitās economic
protection
For financial inclusion to be real, we need:
- Licensing and ethical training for all loan brokers
- Full disclosure of conflicts of interest
- Enforcement against false claims and fake reviews
- Documented recommendations like banker and financial advisors already do.
Inclusion without trust is a false promise. The next phase of fintechās growth in SEA must be transparency-firstābecause when trust is designed in from the start, everyone wins.
