Drawing on their experience with Latin America’s leading fintechs, Tory Jackson, Galileo’s head of business development and strategy, Latin America, and Thiago Dias, Mastercard’s VP of Fintech Strategy and Labs, Latin America and the Caribbean, recently spoke at Lendit Fintech LatAm 2020 about how infrastructure providers partner with local innovators to navigate local frameworks, foster financial inclusion, introduce new competition and adapt these successes for other Latin American markets.

Originally a market where cash “reigned supreme,” the digitalization of transactions and payments in Latin America was greatly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, explained Jackson. This has the potential to improve the quality of life and accelerate financial inclusion for people throughout the region, while also creating more competition in the fintech industry–not only in creating new products but in the speed at which companies can bring these products to market.

“As an enabler, it’s our responsibility to our clients to always increase how fast we’re able to move,” said Jackson. “Innovation on one side of new products and features that the market demands, but also innovating around how fast we can bring these features to our customers.”

The panel also discussed how consumer behavior and financial services have rapidly evolved in the past year, and how fintech companies can remain competitive. The conversation examined some regulatory challenges that may arise as the industry continues to grow and how, ultimately, these changes will drive innovation, providing more solutions for the end user and advancing global financial inclusion.

Tune into the full conversation below.