Victor Morales

Only one in four people correctly answer basic questions about money management and savings, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This lack of financial knowledge reduces the ability to make informed economic decisions. Increasing knowledge about inflation, interest rates, and risk diversification could help lift some of the population out of poverty. The data suggest that greater financial literacy could lead to broader financial inclusion. Likewise, having a bank account or using credit systems can also deepen consumers' financial literacy.

To increase financial literacy and access to the banking and credit system, Victor Morales, a business administration graduate from Ricardo Palma University (Peru) launched Alfi in 2019. It is a digital financial education app that connects people with products that can be useful to them. For this breakthrough in financial education to reduce poverty, Vega has been selected as one of the winners of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2023 in Spanish.

His initiative teaches finance through game dynamics to financially excluded populations with content tailored to their profile. This platform offers users digital financial products from financial companies allied with Alfi. "People compete against each other and achieve prizes. After gaining trust, the user can make the decision to purchase a better financial product," adds Morales.

In return, the partner companies obtain data from the platform's users to improve their financial products. Morales' goal is for his platform to reduce economic inequality in the region through financial education that improves the well-being of its users, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The platform is currently working with banks and savings banks in several Latin American countries. In the long term, the goal is to expand to other developing countries to make Alfi a benchmark for financial education in the region: "Financial inclusion is the way to improve the welfare of the most marginalized people in society."