National Bank of Moldova officials used a fintech conference to outline how financial innovation can strengthen two core functions of financial markets, maturity transformation and risk transformation, and to frame these as key to improving access to capital in Moldova, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Bank’s Fintech Directorate also presented the opportunities MIA offers entrepreneurs, focusing on speed and cost-efficient service delivery. Mihnea Constantinescu illustrated the potential impact with an example of a viable farmer unable to obtain traditional financing due to a lack of credit history, where an alternative creditworthiness assessment could draw on production data, export contracts, utility payment records and mobile phone metadata to build a risk profile and unlock funding for technology upgrades. He added that appropriate regulation for these innovations remains an essential topic and will continue to be addressed through dialogue with the private sector and international partners.