Breaking Down Barriers

April 2020

Breaking Down Barriers: Fintech Solutions for Refugees

There is so much exciting innovation around financial health coming out of Europe — but virtually none of it is serving the refugee population living inside Europe’s borders. 

Many refugees living in Europe struggle to access basic financial services. This makes it more difficult for refugee families to achieve basic steps toward integration, like receiving a paycheck, exchanging money with family overseas, or even buying groceries. The coronavirus pandemic will only accelerate these challenges. 

There is a tremendous opportunity for fintech to help build solutions for the underbanked. But European fintechs face barriers around working with refugee populations, like burdensome regulations and licensing requirements and access to capital. These barriers have become exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic, as well, but as we emerge from it, supporting innovations to shape a more equitable world will be more important than ever.

This report highlights exciting innovation for displaced communities in Europe, and provides actionable recommendations for investors, financial institutions and government leaders to reduce barriers to scale.