The Lab for Inclusive Fintech (LIFT) at the University of California, Berkeley, the School of Business and School of Government at Universidad Adolfo IBAÑEZ (UAI) and the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) will lead an event on January 12 – January 13, 2026 to provide an opportunity for researchers, industry leaders and implementing partners, and policymakers to explore whether and how digital financial technologies, their related regulations, and increasingly available data can benefit underserved populations around the world.

Agenda

Monday, January 12, 2026

9:00 am – 6:00 pm | President Errázuriz Headquarters | Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez | Santiago, Chile

8:30 – 9:00 am Registration
Coffee and pastries provided
9:00 am Welcome
Session 1
9:00 – 10:00 am
PANEL: Central Bank Priorities and Concerns in Financial Inclusion and Innovation

Moderator: Kevin Cowan Logan, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
10:00 – 10:30 am Coffee Break
Session 2
10:30 – 12:00 pm
RESEARCH SESSION: Innovations in Credit (1)

Moderator: TBD, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Sean Higgins, Northwestern University or Santiago Truffa, Universidad de los Andes
Search and Negotiation with Biased Beliefs in Consumer Credit Markets
Paul Gertler, University of California Berkeley
Government-Backed Small Business Loans Mitigate Long-Term Job Loss from Cash Flow Shocks
Kevin Cowan Logan, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Compare Before You Choose: Just-in-Time Messages for Credit Shopping
12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch 
1:30 – 2:30 pm KEYNOTE: Improving Consumer Protection in Financial Market

Paul Adams, Director Financial Inclusion Innovations for Poverty Action
2:30 – 3:00 pm Coffee Break
Session 4
3:00 – 4:00 pm
PANEL: Industry Perspectives on Future Innovations

Moderator: Laura Chioda, University of California Berkeley
Khipu, Ximena Rojas, Vice President, Legal and Government Affairs
Mercado Libre, Cecilia de Mendoza, Senior Economist
Galgo, Sebastián Parot, Chief Operating Officer and CEO Regional
Banco Estado, Daniel Hojman, President
RappiCard, Jose Antonio Murillo, CEO
4:00 – 4:30 pm Coffee Break
Session 5
4:30 – 6:00 pm
RESEARCH SESSION: Innovations in Procurement

Moderator: to be announced
Marcelo Osvaldo Olivares, University of Chile
AI into procurement mechanisms (here)
Raimundo Undurraga, University of Chile
How Managers Can Use Purchaser Performance Information to Improve Procurement Efficiency
Ana Maria Montoya, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
6:00 pm Social gathering in the garden

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

9:00 am – 6:00 pm | President Errázuriz Headquarters| Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez | Santiago, Chile

8:30 – 9:00 am Registration
Coffee and pastries provided
Session 6
9:00 – 10:30 am
RESEARCH SESSION: Financial Education

Moderator: Bernando Lara, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez 
Veronica Frisancho, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF)
Effects of Financial Education in Latin America
Elaine Shen, University of California, Berkeley
Dollars and Sense: Self-Selection in Financial Literacy Education
Fernando Suarez, Fintual
Democratizing Expert Financial Advice Using Foundation Models and Multi-Agent AI Systems
10:30 – 11:00 am Coffee Break
Session 7
11:00 – 12:30 pm
RESEARCH SESSION: Open Finance Systems and Regulation

Moderator: Ana Maria Montoya, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Fernando Martinez-Santos, European Commission
Has PSD2 Favoured Investments in the European PayTech Companies? 
Jillian Grennan, Emory University
Cryptocurrency Regulation: Enabling vs. Protective Approaches
Nitin Kohli, Center for Effective Global Action
Enabling Humanitarian Applications with Targeted Differential Privacy
12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch
Session 8
1:30 – 3:00 pm
RESEARCH SESSION: Innovations in Credit – (2)

Moderator: Julio Ruitort, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Laura Chioda, University of California Berkeley
FinTech Lending to Borrowers with No Credit History 
Paolina Medina, University of Houston
What Matters for Consumer Credit Choice? Evidence from the Philippine Digital Credit Market
Brett Green, Washington University St. Louis
Digital Collateral 
3:00 – 3:30 pm Coffee Break
Session 9
3:30 – 5:00 pm
RESEARCH SESSION: Digital Platforms

Moderator: Alejandra Abufhele, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Isadora Frankenthal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Gig Economy and Crime in Brazil
Lucas Mariani, Bocconi University
Increasing Small Firms’ Adoption of the Pix Digital Payment Platform in Brazil
Filippo Mezzanotti, Northwestern University
Demographics and Technology Diffusion: Evidence from Mobile Payments
Session 10
5:00 – 6:00 pm
PANEL: Overcoming tradeoffs between resilience, competition and financial inclusion

Moderators: Ana Maria Montoya (UAI) and Paul Gertler (UC Berkeley)