**5. Conclusion**

Financial inclusion has been presented in some global policy documents, for instance, the Universal Financial Access 2020, to be a tool that can potentially reduce socioeconomic deprivation around the world. Financial inclusion of economically challenged households will enable them to accumulate human capital through, for instance, education, consumption of healthcare services, medical insurance, and other social determinants of health.

Mobile money services in conjunction with digital payments have the potential to improve the financial inclusion index across many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa especially those in hard-to-reach remote locations. By improving the financial inclusion of individuals and firms, mobile money services, and digital payments will improve upon their social inclusion, thereby aiding the realization of the sustainable development goals.

Financial technology's benefits for financial inclusion need to address the associated risks [15]. Some of these risks include: (i) development of financial technology requires increased coordination across borders and currencies. Effective coordination among policymakers, regulators, central banks, and supervisors can avert regulatory arbitrage as well as enhance effective supervision and oversight; (ii) there is need to constantly keep abreast of innovations by authorities to mitigate potential regulatory failure and challenges in the application of new business models; and (iii) developments in financial technology have indicated the challenges as well as opportunities associated with extending the access of payment service providers to payments infrastructures as well as the need to guard against cyber-attacks.

The mobile money industry has embraced disruption and built resilience over the COVID-19 pandemic era. The solutions that emerged as well as the growth that occurred despite the pandemic demonstrate evidence of the industry's strong partnerships. These relationships enabled mobile money providers to move quickly, sustain their operations, and contribute to more robust local economies and communities.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the realization of changes to the regulatory environment. For instance, the pandemic prompted the simplification as well as streamlining of processes required to sign up for a mobile money account. There is need for regulators as well as governments to constantly consult with industry players in order to create a conducive environment that benefits the long-term sustainability of the industry and benefits consumers [15]. It remains to be seen if the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the use of cash, consumer behavior as well as digitization. As the global economy recovers, the mobile money ecosystem will change the modern economics of mobile money.

While this chapter has focused on the mobile money and digital payments dimension of financial inclusion, fintech firms have enabled the saving as well as the borrowing dimension of financial inclusion. The latter could be an area for future research.
