Bank of Japan, Payment and Settlement System Report Annex, FinTech Special Edition, September 2018. 3  is perhaps a typical example of the contribution of FinTech to financial inclusion. New financial services such as cashless payment using smartphones sometimes spread rapidly in regions without the necessary social infrastructure of bank branches and wired communication.
This is a phenomenon, known as "leapfrogging," in which people who do not have access to conventional financial services can obtain immediate access to convenient services through new technologies. For instance, in China, payment and settlement services using smartphones offered by e-commerce and social network services (SNS) companies have spread rapidly since around 2013.