Innovations in financial technology (fintech) include mobile phones, digital platforms, biometrics, online peer-to-peer lending, crowd funding, and block chains.

For small businesses and households, these innovations all hold much promise as tools for helping meet modern financial needs.

They can also assist institutions scale up operations efficiently, as well as making transactions faster and safer.

In short, fintech could become the lynchpin for financial inclusion.

However, fintech innovations are not risk-free, and their transformative implications are being scrutinized by regulators, including the Financial Stability Board.

Regulators are exploring ways to apply innovation responsibly  ways to manage systemic risks that may arise from technological change.

A few developed market regulators the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Australian Securities.