Denelle Dixon, SDF’s CEO and Executive Director, recently sat down with Business Reporter Rachel Hicks to discuss how Stellar is expanding financial inclusion on a global scale.

Emerging markets from across the world do not have widespread access to secure payment systems. Moreover, many of them do not have accessible banking infrastructure, and this is in a world where there is the rapid advancement of technology.

Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), when she sat down with Rachel Hicks of Business Reporter, discussed how Stellar has been creating financial inclusion at a global scale.

She pointed to how there are three top takeaways from Stellar! First, sending remittances is challenging and costly for many: It is well known that several billions of dollars are getting transferred every year from countries where individuals work to the countries where their families live.

When payment systems get built on the Stellar blockchain, the flow of these funds can be simplified and streamlined without having to depend on costly and legacy payment systems.

Legacy systems burden users by levying extra fees, which they claim are caused by operational costs. Therefore, people send money eventually to see that their family is receiving less money than what they send.  Women do not have access to financial systems like men have in the developing world.

This is due to lack of access due to systematic issues like not having access to identification or earning income. The downside is not only with the individual but also regionally. The GDP of these economies benefits dramatically when women participate and possess financial autonomy.

Small-to-medium-sized businesses in emerging markets get excluded from tools, which they need to conduct business due to their geographical location efficiently.

Financial tools built on Stellar permit businesses in the emerging markets to get access to credit, lending, and other kinds of financial resources they previously had difficulty accessing. Thus permitting these businesses the opportunity, they need to compete at the same level as their competitors in countries that have greater financial access.

Since Stellar is open and permissionless, the businesses and individuals using Stellar-powered applications will now join the global financial ecosystem.

The scale, speed, and low transaction costs on the Stellar network are phenomenal for businesses that take advantage of quick and seamless transactions, and settlement will be in just a few seconds.