Digital financial services in the region’s six largest economies could generate up to $60 billion annually, but are currently on track for $38 billion. “Across Asia-Pacific, financial inclusion remains a significant opportunity — over 1 billion people in the region still lack access to formal financial services.” The ChallengesCredit Risk With No Credit HistoryFitch noted that banks in the Philippines, India and Vietnam carry the highest risk appetite in APAC, partly because expanding financial inclusion means moving down the credit curve. Thin physical presence also means banks extend credit with less ground-truth context about borrowers, a structural driver of higher NPL floors for digital-first lenders. The $22 billion gap between where digital financial services are and where they could be is not a technology problem.