Access to financial data no longer needs to be confined to experts. Individuals, small business owners, and communities stand to benefit when data is open, actionable, and inclusive.

Fintech as a Catalyst for Financial Access

Innovations in fintech are breaking down barriers and extending services to previously underserved populations. From urban centers to remote villages, new tools are filling critical data gaps and aligning with global policy goals.

Across Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Kosovo, and Saudi Arabia, pilot exercises in 2024–2025 tested over 100 new indicators to support fintech-enabled inclusion and growth. These pilots exemplify Recommendation 12 of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative-3, demonstrating how partnerships between regulators and innovators can unlock fresh insights.

• Digital financial services, e-money, e-wallets and mobile money
• Peer-to-peer lending platforms and equity crowdfunding
• Neobanks providing streamlined user experiences
• Real-time transactional analytics for microloans

By integrating these solutions, communities gain trusted metrics to make informed decisions, driving economic growth and equity.

Harnessing Global Financial Access Data

The IMF’s 2025 Financial Access Survey now covers 163 economies, up from 158 in 2024, and includes 121 data series spanning two decades. This expansion reflects the dynamic evolution of digital finance.

Gender-disaggregated figures, detailed lending breakdowns, and usage statistics empower policymakers to craft targeted interventions. As the dataset grows, stakeholders can monitor trends in financial inclusion, assess policy impact, and identify emerging risks.

Overcoming Challenges in Public Data Systems

Public and federal agencies face formidable obstacles. In the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics has seen a 22% real budget decline since 2010 and lost 20% of its staff since January 2025. One-third of leadership positions remain vacant, and proposed cuts could worsen data quality.

Political interference, government shutdowns, and survey response declines post-COVID highlight the fragility of traditional data collection. To adapt, agencies are exploring real-time external data feeds, partnering with private platforms, and automating sample selection to preserve continuity.

AI Tools Empowering Financial Literacy

Artificial intelligence and large language models are democratizing analysis. Without advanced training, non-experts can now generate insights, build visualizations, and interpret complex datasets.

• Nurses using data to track patient outcome trends
• Teachers visualizing student performance metrics
• Job-seekers running A/B tests on resumes
• Community organizers mapping local spending patterns

These advances foster interactive learning for statistical literacy, enabling real-time experimentation and informed decision-making at the grassroots level.

The Rise of Self-Service and Data Marketplaces

Traditional IT bottlenecks are giving way to self-service analytics tools for marketing, operations, and strategy teams. Data marketplaces now allow organizations to share and monetize anonymized datasets, creating new revenue streams.

By combining financial transaction data with telecom usage or healthcare operations, companies have seen data monetization drives >20% earnings in adopters. This shift incentivizes broader data sharing and cross-industry innovation.

Opening Private Markets to All

Tokenization and indexing are leveling the playing field for individual investors. Platforms like Preqin track over 190,000 funds and 60,000 managers, offering transparency akin to public stock markets.

With tokenized assets, friction is reduced and liquidity improved, making higher-yield opportunities more accessible. In the U.S., 86% of fund-owning households cite retirement saving as a goal, with 29% prioritizing it. Such trends signal growing demand for diversified, transparent investment options.

Empowering Small Businesses through Data

Small enterprises gain a competitive edge when affordable analytics tools become available. AI-powered dashboards help local retailers forecast demand, manage cash flow, and tailor marketing strategies.

By democratizing insights, community shops can rival larger chains, fostering economic resilience and fostering vibrant local economies.

Community-Driven and Open-Source Innovations

Julia Lane’s 2020 manifesto, Democratizing Our Data, calls for co-production with end users to ensure data is timely, adaptable, and cost-effective. Examples like the NLx corpus of job postings (2015–2025) and the Coleridge Initiative platform showcase how secure, linked datasets can inform workforce and education policy.

Open-source, composable architectures further enable customization, allowing organizations to tailor systems to local needs without prohibitive licensing fees.

Towards a More Equitable Financial Future

Timely, inclusive data strengthens democracy, drives growth, and promotes equity. To seize this opportunity, stakeholders must:

• Fund and staff federal agencies like BLS and Census
• Seed collaborative efforts between public and private sectors
• Integrate AI into educational curricula for sustainable literacy
• Reward open innovation and community co-production

By embracing these steps, we can create a world where every individual wields the power of financial information to achieve personal and societal progress.