Miami, Nov 4 (EFE).- Participants at the FinnLAC 2025 forum on Tuesday highlighted the aging population as one of the greatest opportunities for fintech and the wider financial sector in Latin America. Speakers emphasized that older adults must be brought into the digital financial ecosystem to unlock the region’s full economic potential.
Financial access has changed, but inclusion gaps remain
James Scriven, CEO of IDB Invest, opened the event alongside Michael Schlein, president of Accion. Scriven said that “the financial landscape and inclusivity have radically changed” during his 35 years in the industry.
“When I started, everything revolved around who had access to a (physical) bank or not. It was all very bank-centric. Now it’s not,” he noted, adding that around 70% of the region now has access to financial services thanks to technological advances.
The two-day forum, held at Miami’s InterContinental Hotel, brings together more than 500 participants and around 70 speakers. One of the central concerns is the 140 million Latin Americans and Caribbeans who remain outside any formal financial ecosystem.“30 by 2030”: Expanding digital payments to the unbanked
The forum also marked the launch of IDB Pay, an initiative aimed at accelerating the region’s shift toward low-cost, fast digital payment systems. The objective is to extend financial services to the 30% of Latin Americans still unbanked by 2030, a mission summarized as “30 by 2030.”
Anderson Caputo, head of the IDB’s Connectivity, Markets and Finance Division, said success depends on a coordinated approach across the institution. He told EFE that IDB Invest activates private-sector financing, the IDB focuses on regulation and enabling policy environments, and IDB Lab drives innovation, entrepreneurship and technological testing. According to Caputo, the initiative’s strength lies in aligning policy, investment, and technological development under one shared strategy.
The “silver wave” is the fastest-growing market
Most of the 140 million unbanked belong to older age groups, especially in Central America and the Caribbean. This demographic shift is often described as the “silver wave.”
“Bet on aging. There’s no other market growing faster,” said César Buenadicha, head of the IDB’s Ecosystem Building and Acceleration Unit, during a roundtable discussion.
Latin America is one of the fastest-aging regions in the world, with birth rates below replacement levels in many countries.
“These are our grandparents, our parents—this is us in 10 or 20 years. It’s happening now,” said Angelo Ciuffardi of Chile’s Caja Los Héroes, noting that even with widespread internet access, many older adults still avoid digital financial services.
Ciuffardi emphasized empathy-based design, saying, “We have to sit down not just to design products for them, but with them.”
Technology offers solutions but also introduces risks
Caputo added that while digital technology can expand financial inclusion, it also creates new risks, particularly for older populations.
“That’s why we need financial education mechanisms. And it goes beyond that—it’s also about language and communication,” he said. EFE
EFE published this report with the support of the IDB.