Vallabh Rao

Insights from G2012 Mexico Financial Inclusion Twitter Conference

Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series of articles highlighting innovations for financial inclusion. It was first published on the Ashoka Changemakers blog as part of the G20 Financial Inclusion challenge. Additional posts from the series can be found on Ashoka’s NextBillion page here. The next #SocEntChat on Twitter to discuss financial inclusion in Latin America is set for 11:30 a.m. EST, Aug. 30. The session will be in English). Read on for more information on how to participate.

Great insights and knowledge surfaced about how to provide valuable, affordable, secure, and comprehensive financial services to underserved and excluded communities during a six-hour long multilingual #SocEntChat on Twitter on July 25. It was part of the G2012 Mexico Financial Inclusion global competition that is seeking the world’s most innovative solutions for financial inclusion, organized by Ashoka Changemakers and G2012 Mexico.

Don’t worry if you missed it—below are summaries from the three back-to-back sessions, each lasting two hours. They focused on technology and financial inclusion, financing livelihoods, and the future of financial inclusion innovation.

The Twitter conference gathered more than 150 experts, thought leaders, social entrepreneurs, and innovators from different parts of the world. It reached almost half a million Twitter accounts and involved simultaneous conversations in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Session 1: Technology and Financial Inclusion

This session, co-moderated by CGAP, considered how technology can advance financial inclusion. The panelists and participants discussed barriers and limitations to the use of technology, and looked at some of the solutions to address these barriers.

Panelists, experts, and participants who joined us for the session included Alliance for Financial Inclusion – Robin Newnham and Bernadette Victorio; FINO – Navneet Kumar; Shorebank International – Shital Shah; IFMR – Dave Wallack; Inventure; Eko India – Abhishek Sinha; Shrey Goyal; Simpa Networks – Michael MacHarg.

There were questions on a range of topics, including the promise of technology for achieving full financial inclusion, consumer protection issues, and examples of innovative initiatives. The panelists focused on highlighting key aspects of financial inclusion such as comprehensive access to a full suite of financial services – savings, credit, and insurance – for economic development. The session also highlighted innovative initiatives that use technology to achieve financial inclusion.

Click here to read the blog post that summarizes this discussion, by ThinkChange India, the content partner for this session.

Click here to read the Storify summary of the first and second session.

Session 2: Financing Livelihoods

Participants in this session discussed issues related to financing for generating a livelihood. Initiatives that make finance available for income-generating activities are critical to financial inclusion, whether they are bank loans, microfinance, or online lending platforms. Panelists, experts, and participants who joined us for the session included Waste Ventures – Parag Gupta, Milaap – Shrey Goyal, and IFMR – Avishek Gupta.

The session explored connections between building sustainable livelihoods at the grassroots level and access to finance. The two-hour session focused on available financial instruments and tools, models of successful grassroot livelihoods, barriers to entry and scaling, and trends affecting credit generating income.

Click here to read the Storify summary of the first and second session.

Session 3: Future of Financial Inclusion Innovation

This session looked at the emerging trends in financial inclusion and discussed the road ahead for financial inclusion initiatives. Panelists and experts shared insights about what they think will shape this sector in the years to come.

Panelists, experts, and participants who joined the session included Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) – Robin Newnham and Bernadette Victorio; CGAP – Camilo Tellez, Kabir Kumar and Marcia Parada; NextBillion – Clarissa Barbosa; FINO – Jatinder Handoo; IFMR – Bindu Ananth; Madura Microfinance – Tara Thiagarajan; and FUNDEFIR – Salomon Raydan, Fundacion AFI.

Participants looked at some financial inclusion innovations and discussed the role of startups, social media, and technology. Experts and panelists shared some best practices and lessons from successful initiatives.

Click here to read the blog post that summarizes the session led by YourStory.in, the content partner for this session.

Click here to read the Storify summary of the third session.

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The next chat to discuss financial inclusion in Latin America is set for 11:30 a.m. EST, Aug. 30 (the session will be in English). Follow @Changemakers, @ChangemakersES, and @ChangemakersPT for more information, and follow the #G2012FinIncl and #SocEntChat hashtags.

Thanks for participating!

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