Innovations Across Emerging Markets: Multiple Models, Shared Lessons

Fintech is emerging as a key driver of financial inclusion and innovation across emerging and developing economies. Its rapid growth is underpinned by large unbanked and underbanked populations, rising internet penetration, a shift towards mobile-first consumer behaviour, younger demographic profiles, and the digital acceleration catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines how different fintech ecosystem models evolve under varying institutional, regulatory, and technological conditions. Drawing on illustrative cases from Latin America, ASEAN, Africa, and South Asia, it highlights how enabling regulatory frameworks, digital public infrastructure, startup ecosystems, and mobile-first solutions have shaped fintech development. These models are not mutually exclusive and often coexist within the same ecosystem, generating shared challenges such as fragmented markets, uneven regulatory capacity, persistent digital divides, and weaknesses in digital infrastructure. Realising fintech’s transformative potential therefore requires deliberate policy choices that promote equitable digital participation, foster competition, and support responsible innovation. For ASEAN, regional initiatives such as the ASEAN Regional Payment Connectivity and the Digital Economy Framework Agreement present timely opportunities to deepen integration, expand cross-border fintech services, and support sustained growth. Aligning fintech development with financial inclusion objectives will be critical to ensuring that digital finance contributes to sustainable and equitable development across the region.