Inside the Trust by Design Fintech Challenge

​740 million women remain financially excluded globally, and even among those with accounts, usage is low: only 36 percent of women in low and middle-income countries save formally, and women are 31 percent more likely than men to have an account they never use.

​The reason isn't always access. According to the World Bank's Findex data, 1 in 4 unbanked adults cite distrust of financial institutions as a reason for not having an account. For women, that distrust doesn't disappear once an account is opened. It shows up in how — and whether — they use the account.

​The Trust by Design Fintech Challenge is searching for fintech solutions that prove trust can be intentionally designed into a product. This webinar is for founders, operators, and ecosystem partners who want to understand what we're looking for, how to apply, and the recognition available to Challenge winners.

​What we'll cover:

​Why trust is the next frontier in financial inclusion, and the market signals driving this Challenge now.

​Hear about the problem we're working to solve and what it will take to make digital finance work for women customers from panelists, including:

• ​A consumer protection and research lens (Center for Financial Inclusion)

• ​A women's financial inclusion and behavioral design perspective (GRID Impact)

• ​A practitioner lens on digitization and gender data (Accion Advisory)

• ​An investor perspective (Accion Ventures)

​We’ll look at the opportunity space and how to design for trust in practice. Speakers will explore the breadth of solutions that can move the needle — from fraud prevention and recourse mechanisms to transparency tools, underwriting and product design, and customer servicing — illustrating the range of approaches that can qualify and what meaningful trust-building looks like in practice.

​We’ll also provide a walkthrough of the most common questions we've received from applicants so far, followed by a live Q&A with the team running the Challenge.

​Date and registration details: Thursday, May 14th, 10:30 a.m. ET

Join using this link: https://accion.zoom.us/j/95661280034

Challenge disclaimer:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Open to all fintechs, represented by an applicant at least 18 years old at the time of entry. Begins 12:00AM EDT on April 20, 2026 and ends 11:59PM EDT on July 17, 2026. To enter, complete and submit an application HERE by 11:59PM EDT on May 22, 2026. Winners will be selected by a panel of qualified judges based on highest scoring evaluations. Total ARV of all prizes: $94,000. For full Official Rules, visit bit.ly/TrustbyDesignRules. Sponsored by Accion.