It was not supposed to be like this. Fintech is not like traditional banking. That is its driving idea.

Fintech is the innovative future of finance. The flexible, forward-looking alternative to the tired ways of doing things. It is the disruptive force for developing customer-centric services and targeted product offerings for the significant population groups ignored or underserved by Big Finance.

This is not simply a story of individual ambitions thwarted and glass ceilings unsmashed. This matters because access to finance matters. Because visible women at senior levels encourage more women to see finance as an option for them. Because diversity of thought and challenging ideas are currently being missed. Because more inclusion simply equals more customers. Because financial services are not meeting the needs of half the population.

In the third decade of the 21st Century, it is clear that societies cannot continue as they always have. The way we work, the way we think about business, the way we value people and their community has to change. Simply recreating old behaviours, habits and assumptions and giving them a digital polish is not enough. If we are to achieve sustainable communities of all kinds, we need finance to be different. We need it to be future-fit.