Open banking and Libra: a new frontier of financial inclusion for payment systems?

A wide range of digital initiatives have an impact on ‘financial inclusion’, i.e. access to banking services both for underbanked and low-income customers. Promoting financial inclusion using virtual platforms in low and middle-income countries enables reaching vulnerable and excluded customers. This article examines the new frontiers of open banking and cryptocurrencies for payment systems from the perspective of inclusive financial development. The possibility for technology-based change in the financial markets is demonstrated in the online delivery of banking services and in the business models and operations of intermediaries that provide them. Enhancing the appropriate public policy on financial data and the availability of ‘open data’ for use by other firms and investors represent the main challenges for regulators. This article argues that there is a public interest in data access that requires coordination at industry level and may also require regulatory intervention to ensure the governance of data technologies.