From fintech innovation to financial wellbeing: Berlin’s model for global cooperation

Financial stress is rising globally. In Brazil, 76% of families carry debt. In America, 57% of employees are stressed about their finances. In South Africa, despite a sophisticated financial sector, only 16% of citizens are considered financially healthy. Across emerging markets, millions still lack access to quality financial services, yet fintech investment is surging. AI-powered budgeting apps and digital payment systems like Brazil’s Pix – which processed 68.7 billion transactions worth $5 trillion in 2024 – are scaling rapidly. The paradox: as technological innovation accelerates, financial wellbeing continues to deteriorate.

Some institutions, however, have found ways to break this pattern.

Learning from international pioneers applying behavioral science to finance

Three financial institutions demonstrate what’s possible when wellbeing becomes strategic priority rather than corporate social responsibility. Discovery Bank in South Africa pioneered integrating financial and physical health through its Vitality Money program, using behavioral economics and gamification to reward positive financial decisions. The results are striking: customers at Diamond status are 97% less likely to be in arrears and maintain 11 times more deposits than entry-level customers – outcomes that hold regardless of income level. The UN Special Advocate for Financial Health highlighted Discovery as a global model for applying behavioral science to financial wellness.

In Poland, mBank ranks in the top 5% globally for personal finance management, offering sophisticated budget tracking, automated spending categorization across multiple countries, and personalized insights that customers actively use. The bank signed the UN Environment Programme’s Financial Health and Inclusion commitment, embedding wellbeing into its core mission rather than treating it as peripheral offering.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia made “improving the financial wellbeing of our customers and communities” its stated purpose, backed by concrete infrastructure. Their Benefits Finder tool alone helped customers collect $500 million in unclaimed government benefits, while over 430 specially trained branch managers deliver approximately 1,000 free financial wellbeing seminars annually across Australia’s largest branch network.

These examples share critical elements: measurement through scoring systems enabling personalization, technology deployment at scale, research institution partnerships providing credibility, and genuine commitment extending beyond marketing. They also demonstrate that financial wellbeing drives commercial success – Discovery, mBank, and Commonwealth Bank are recognized leaders in customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Brazil’s paradox: when digital leadership meets structural inequality

Brazil illustrates why technology alone cannot solve financial wellbeing challenges. The country leads Latin America in fintech innovation, with 58.7% of the region’s fintech startups based there. Pix achieved the fastest adoption rate globally of any payment system – reaching 175 million users (93% of adults) with 68.7 billion transactions worth $5 trillion in 2024 and enabling 71.5 million Brazilians who had never used electronic transfers to make their first digital payments.

Yet Brazilian households face severe financial stress. Credit card interest rates reached 431-450% annually before government intervention, while the average debt-service ratio climbed to 27.6% of after-tax income – up from 23.9% pre-pandemic. Income inequality remains extreme, with those earning under twice the minimum wage facing nearly double the tax burden of top earners.

Brazil’s National Strategy for Financial Education (ENEF), launched in 2010, is Latin America’s most comprehensive financial literacy initiative. A rigorous evaluation of ENEF’s 17-month school curriculum found that, seven years after participation, students were 5.6 percentage points less likely to be in default and were using costly credit products, such as credit cards, less often. Major banks, including Bradesco and Itaú, actively support ENEF. Fundação Bradesco, for example, offers more than 50 free online financial education courses through its platform.

The lesson: fintech innovation accelerates access, but wellbeing requires holistic ecosystems combining technology, education, consumer protection, and structural reforms addressing inequality. Digital payment infrastructure creates foundation, not solution.

Why employers can no longer ignore financial wellbeing

The employer financial wellbeing landscape transformed dramatically since 2020. What began as basic financial education evolved into sophisticated programs integrating AI-powered personalization, behavioral nudges, emergency savings accounts, and mental health support. Bank of America’s program now serves 4 million employees across 450+ corporate clients, more than doubling since 2022, while JPMorgan Chase committed $14.5 million to scale workplace emergency savings for low-to-moderate income workers.

The business case has become overwhelming. Companies with wellness programs experience a 25% decrease in employee turnover compared to those without such programs. A 2024 study found that 95% of companies measuring their wellness program ROI report positive returns, with nearly two-thirds reporting at least $2 back for every $1 invested. A Harvard study showed even stronger returns: for every dollar invested in wellness programs, companies save $3.27 on medical costs and $2.73 on absenteeism—totaling $6 for every $1 spent.

Germany’s blueprint: building ecosystems where innovation meets impact

Our mission at the House of Finance & Tech Berlin (HoFT.Berlin) is to establish Berlin as a leading financial wellbeing hub through innovation and collaboration. Our 2025 Financial Wellbeing Study, conducted with the management consultancy firm Roland Berger surveying over 1,000 Germans, revealed the depth of the challenge: Germany’s financial wellbeing score stands at just 52.86 out of 100. Half the population sees their financial situation as their greatest personal concern, 52% experience weekly financial stress, and 82% don’t fully understand what financial wellbeing means. We also examined regional trends in Berlin, where we identified that women and people with migration backgrounds score significantly lower than the national average – highlighting how financial stress disproportionately affects specific groups. This data-driven foundation enables targeted interventions rather than generic solutions.

Our playbook centers on orchestrating a flywheel around the Financial Wellbeing Score—a standardized metric designed to serve each player’s needs while amplifying collective progress. We’re launching an accelerator program enabling startups to develop breakthrough solutions with proven Score improvements, providing the innovations incumbents cannot build internally. Through pilot projects and consulting engagements, we’re supporting financial institutions in their transformation from transactional providers to holistic wellbeing partners—helping them assess client needs comprehensively and demonstrate value through measurable outcomes rather than product volumes alone.

We’re equipping employers to amplify impact by deploying evidence-backed solutions across workforces, benchmarking against the 52.86 national average, and contributing data that reveals what works. Joint studies with academia and consultancies will validate Score methodology while inspiring policymakers to create regulatory and tax incentives that reward measurable wellbeing outcomes.

We orchestrate through working groups establishing shared standards, events connecting ecosystem players, and collaborative pilots generating proof points. As this flywheel gains momentum, each turn will deepen institutional transformation through proven innovations, scale impact through employer distribution, generate validation data, encourage policy support, and narrow the gap between 52.86 and genuine financial wellbeing—transforming individual innovations into systemic change.

This mirrors successful international models while addressing Germany’s specific context. Like Discovery Bank’s integration of behavioral science and Commonwealth Bank’s purpose-driven infrastructure, HoFT.Berlin operates at the intersection of public policy and private innovation – where transformative change happens.

The cooperation imperative: no single sector can solve this alone

Financial wellbeing cannot be solved by any single sector. Banks possess customer relationships and transaction data but often lack behavioral science expertise. Fintechs offer innovative technology and user experience but need regulatory guidance and scale. Governments can create enabling infrastructure like Brazil’s Pix but depend on private sector execution. Employers provide distribution and incentives but require proven solutions.

Consider AI-powered financial tools: their potential to improve financial wellbeing depends entirely on coordination – fintechs developing the technology, regulators ensuring consumer protection, banks providing data access, and employers integrating solutions into workplace benefits. No single player can deliver impact alone.

The path forward requires business leaders to champion financial wellbeing as strategic priority, not corporate social responsibility. It demands policymakers create enabling regulation while protecting consumers from predatory practices. It needs financial institutions to embed wellbeing into their purpose, measured through outcomes not just access. And it calls for international collaboration sharing what works – from Discovery’s behavioral model to Brazil’s Pix infrastructure to Germany’s ecosystem approach.

As São Paulo prepares to host Horasis’s 10th Global Summit this October, examining cooperation’s power to address defining challenges, Germany’s experience offers a practical blueprint: build trusted infrastructure, foster open dialogue between sectors, create platforms enabling innovation, and measure impact rigorously. The future of financial wellbeing lies not in isolated solutions but in connected ecosystems driving lasting value for society.