Insights from the Pacific Rim

Pacific FinTech Pulse

Exploring payments innovation, financial inclusion, and the digital economy across the Pacific — and what it means for Australia.

24Articles

7Pacific Markets

18+Years Experience

580KM-PAiSA Users

DB

Deepak Baran

Head of Financial Technology, Vodafone Fiji Limited · Pacific FinTech Specialist

Over 18 years building digital payment infrastructure across the Pacific — M-PAiSA, Mastercard Principal Issuing, eTransport AFC, and multi-market digital wallet rollouts across seven Pacific Island markets.

All 24 Articles

01 FinTech Policy Featured 16 Feb 2026

Australia's Pacific Step-Up Needs a FinTech Layer

Australia is committing record billions to the Pacific. But without a digital payments strategy, much of that investment will underperform.

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02 Digital Payments 23 Feb 2026

The Remittance Revolution: A$79 Million on the Table

Every year, fees as high as 10% silently tax Pacific households receiving money from Australia.

03 Financial Inclusion 2 Mar 2026

From 45% to 6%: How We Brought Fijians into the Formal Economy

The M-PAiSA story — how a mobile wallet transformed financial access across a nation of islands.

04 Policy & Regulation 9 Mar 2026

What FATF's Grey-Listing Means for FinTech — and How to Respond

When banks de-risk, Pacific remittances become harder and FinTech investment dries up. RegTech is part of the answer.

05 Australian FinTech 16 Mar 2026

Why Australian Neobanks Should Look at the Pacific

Eleven million people with smartphones and no meaningful banking relationship. The opportunity is real.

06 Thought Leadership 23 Mar 2026

Why Financial Inclusion Is the Wrong Frame

Financial utility is the real goal — and the distinction changes everything about how we build Pacific FinTech.

07 Exceptional Achievement 30 Mar 2026

Building a Mastercard Principal Issuing Program in a Small Island Economy

How Vodafone Fiji became a Mastercard Principal Issuer — and gave hundreds of thousands of Fijians access to global card infrastructure.

08 Policy & Standards 6 Apr 2026

The G20's Financial Inclusion Targets and the Pacific

Measuring Pacific progress against G20 and SDG benchmarks reveals persistent gaps — and Australia's role in closing them.

09 Australian Policy 13 Apr 2026

Seasonal Workers: The FinTech Fix Australia Needs

85,000+ Pacific workers in Australia. Every 10% remittance fee is money taken from Pacific families.

10 Thought Leadership 20 Apr 2026

The Myth of the Unbanked: Mobile Money Is Already Winning

The development sector is still writing papers about a problem that Pacific practitioners have already solved.

11 Exceptional Achievement 27 Apr 2026

Seven Markets, One Wallet

What fifteen years of multi-market Pacific digital wallet rollouts taught me about building trust at scale.

12 FinTech Innovation 4 May 2026

Alternative Credit Scoring: Why Transaction History Beats Credit History

Fifteen years of M-PAiSA data holds the key to unlocking credit for millions of Pacific residents.

13 Emerging Technology 11 May 2026

Pacific CBDCs: Who Moves First?

Several Pacific central banks are exploring digital currencies. Australia's RBA pilot has lessons the Pacific needs to hear.

14 Global Leadership 18 May 2026

Lessons from M-PAiSA for the Global South

What Africa and Southeast Asia can learn from Fiji's mobile money journey — and why the Pacific model is underrated.

15 Australian FinTech 25 May 2026

Open Banking in the Pacific: A First-Mover Opportunity

Australian FinTechs that engage now will define the regional standard. Those that wait will follow someone else's.

16 Partnership 1 Jun 2026

How the Wise–M-PAiSA Partnership Changed Remittances

The first direct link between a global low-cost transfer platform and a Pacific mobile wallet — and the model it proved.

17 Partnership 8 Jun 2026

What Australian Banks Need from a Pacific FinTech Partner

Australian banks have Pacific ambitions but Pacific knowledge gaps. Here is how to structure a partnership that works.

18 Regulation 15 Jun 2026

Pacific Regulators and Australian FinTechs: The Compliance Maze

Pacific regulation is more relationship-based and forgiving of good-faith innovation than most executives assume.

19 Innovation 22 Jun 2026

eTransport AFC: Lessons for Australian Smart Cities

How building automated fare collection in Fiji's complex transport environment produced lessons for Australian cities.

20 Strategic Vision 29 Jun 2026

How Australia Can Become the Pacific FinTech Hub

The Blue Pacific Continent is digitising fast. Australia is positioned to be its FinTech anchor — but strategy is required.

21 Technical Leadership 6 Jul 2026

The Interoperability Imperative: Pacific Wallets Must Talk

Wallet fragmentation is a strategic vulnerability for the Pacific's entire digital economy. Here is how to fix it.

22 Emerging Technology 13 Jul 2026

Tokenised Pacific Trade: Can Blockchain Solve Supply Chain Finance?

Pacific Island economies are among the most trade-dependent and least served by global trade finance infrastructure.

23 Consumer Finance 20 Jul 2026

Buy Now Pay Later Hits the Pacific: Risks and Regulation

BNPL is expanding beyond Australia into Pacific markets. Here is how to balance genuine utility against consumer harm.

24 Vision 27 Jul 2026

Building a Pacific–Australia FinTech Bridge

After 18 years in the Pacific, here is the specific plan for what I would do in my first year in Australia.