UNICEF: Financial Technology and Children - Jan/2026

Unicef Innocenti - January 2026

Report: Financial Technology and Children

Landscape review

Highlights

Financial technology (fintech) is rapidly changing how people store, send, and use money and other forms of value. Advances such as cloud computing, real-time data processing, and widespread connectivity are enabling new financial tools and platforms that are more accessible, efficient, and interconnected. These systems are expanding access, personalizing financial services, and embedding financial interactions into everyday life, including for children. Yet this transformation introduces significant risks: young users are increasingly exposed to gamified spending environments, speculative features, and design incentives that exploit developmental vulnerabilities, often without adequate guidance or protection.

To help address these challenges, UNICEF conducted a global landscape review on children’s rights in digital finance. The paper identifies the key stakeholders shaping the fintech ecosystem and the obstacles they face in recognizing and responding to children’s unique capacities and vulnerabilities. It also examines existing governance mechanisms across countries, highlighting the roles of regulators, industry actors, and child-rights organizations, while underscoring the current gaps in policies and standards that fail to account for children as distinct financial actors.

This work is part of UNICEF's Financial Technologies and Children's Well-being project.

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