Mobile Wallets and Interoperability: When Competition Meets Financial Inclusion

Due to their ubiquity, mobile phones have become the primary gateway to the internet and the foundation of entire digital ecosystems. Within this framework, mobile payments are rapidly gaining popularity. The shift from computers to smartphones for digital consumption, along with the transition from cash to digital payment tools, creates significant opportunities to help address barriers faced by unbanked individuals in accessing financial services. However, innovative FinTech products will only enhance financial inclusion if access to mobile ecosystems is made effective and seamless. At the same time, mobile ecosystems, due to their central role in the digital economy, have increasingly drawn the attention of policymakers and antitrust authorities. Concerns have arisen that limited interoperability with hardware and software within these ecosystems may be a strategy by dominant players to extend their economic power into complementary sectors. In this context, the potential for expansion into banking and financial services is substantial, as consumers are increasingly adopting mobile wallets. Against this backdrop, the paper examines antitrust and regulatory initiatives designed to promote vertical interoperability within mobile ecosystems by lifting restrictions on third-party mobile wallets. By exploring the relationship between competition and financial inclusion, the paper aims to demonstrate that interoperability in mobile payments can serve a dual public interest purpose.