wagely, Asia's leading financial wellness platform, was named among the global winners of the 2022 Inclusive Fintech 50 (IF50) for its work towards supporting the financial inclusion of low-to-middle-income workers in Indonesia and Bangladesh with its earned wage access solution.
The IF50 is an annual global initiative that competitively selects 50 early-stage fintech with innovative business models that aim to advance financial inclusion. The competition is managed by the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) and led by an independent panel of venture capital, technology, and financial services judges. The 2022 winners were selected from a pool of 257 eligible applicants with headquarters in 79 countries, and wagely was one of only two companies from Indonesia on the winner lineup.
We are thankful to the Center for Financial Inclusion for its recognition. It is a testament to our incredibly talented and dedicated team that strives to deliver impactful solutions to people in need. Being recognized among such innovative organizations puts an even greater responsibility on us, and we will continue to bring the power of fair financial services to bear on the challenges that low-to-middle-income workers face.
- Tobias Fischer, CEO of wagely.
The theme of the 2022 IF50 competition is “Making Digitalization Count.” Rapid advances in the digital economy, further accelerated by COVID-19, are changing the financial services landscape and creating opportunities to drive further inclusion and impact. More than 47 million people in Indonesia are still underbanked, and 30 million people in Bangladesh still do not have an account with a financial institution or mobile money platform. These individuals are most likely to live paycheck to paycheck and are prone to turn to illegal predatory lending services with high interest that could trap them in a vicious debt cycle.
wagely is here to change that. Organizations partnering with wagely can offer their employees an innovative financial well-being platform that lets them access their earned salary whenever needed without waiting for payday. Meanwhile, employers also benefit from increased employee retention, productivity, engagement, and attraction.
As a winner, wagely was invited to participate in CFI’s Financial Inclusion Week, where inclusive finance stakeholders gather from October 17-20 to learn from one another and share key findings. Moderated by IF50 judge Gabriela Zapata, Head of Strategy and Business Expansion at wagely Amrita Vir, shared a virtual stage with Ryan Newton the Founder & CEO at Paisa, Noxolo Mthethwa Co-Founder and CEO at Boost South Africa discussing how to make “Digitalization Count” by leveraging technological advances to help underserved individuals and businesses meet their financial needs and goals.
Details about IF50 and the list of winners are available at inclusivefintech50.com.