About this Event
Fintech Design for Financial Inclusion: Promise and perils of emerging tech
The Financial Inclusion Forum (FIF) invites you for an evening of learning, discussion and connection (and hopefully a bit of celebration) in the lead up to the Center for Financial Inclusion's 12th Annual Financial Inclusion Week, held 5-8th October.
We'll explore this year's theme: "Inclusive Innovation: Building Financial Systems that Work for Everyone" and share some exciting financial inclusion updates from FIF. As always, we will close with an hour of networking and connection!
The panellists are:
Maarten Rooney: Co-founder and CEO of Singlify, an end-to-end loan management system for social investors and micro-finance organisations born out of the belief that technology will play a critical role in increasing the impact of social sector organisations on society. Maarten has recently led Singlify's engagement with credit unions to develop a bespoke fintech system that meets the unique needs of the sector, co-designing the product with credit unions and a range of social fintech providers in the UK. Maarten draws from over 20 years leading systems design and operations in UK private and social impact sectors.
Anna Jones: Co-Founder and CEO of social lender RefuAid serving UK refugees excluded from traditional finance with interest-free loans to support rebuilding their lives in the UK. Recently, Anna has been leading the development of a newly launched social venture as a Co-founder of Merit AI which is building an innovative predictive assessment tool for social lenders seeking to offer appropriate financial services to customers with limited credit histories that traditionally exclude them from mainstream services. Anna brings over a decade of experience building mission-driven organisations providing sustainable, tech-driven solutions to social challenges. Anna's work has earned recognition by Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and Startups Magazine's Most Influential Women lists.
Aryann Jain: A seasoned finance and development professional with over 14 years of global experience spanning financial services, venture advisory, and consulting. He brings a rare combination of strategic, operational, and investment perspectives to his work scaling inclusive and commercially resilient financial ecosystems across emerging markets. Currently serving as Lead for Financial Services Technical Advisory at British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, Aryann oversees the advisory portfolio focused on breaking systemic barriers to financial access. His work spans co-designing women-centric lending products, green finance solutions, and SME credit frameworks across Asia and Africa, directly targeting underserved populations who have historically lacked access to formal financial services. Aryann is currently serving as a Board Director for FIF.
The panel will be moderated by Brian Doe. Brian has over fifteen years leading funding and investment to support microfinance and the cooperative finance sector internationally and in the U.K. He is based in London where he serves on the Board of FIF and is also a Programme Manager at the Montpelier Foundation.
We are grateful for the support of Accountancy Age, a leading digital publication for finance professionals and part of Informa TechTarget, for hosting this event.
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FIF is a London-based, not-for-profit organisation that organises free, live events for people in the financial inclusion space to develop their knowledge and engagement in financial inclusion. Expert speakers are invited to share their thoughts on sustainable, innovative, scalable financial inclusion. The events serve as networking opportunities for London- and UK-based financial inclusion practitioners.
For more information, please visit FIF’s website: www.financialinclusionforum.org.uk
Follow FIF on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fiforumuk/
Event venue & nearby stays
Informa TechTarget, 240 Blackfriars Road, London, United Kingdom
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