-
Client Protection in the Age of Fintech: New Standards Promote Best Practices in Digital Finance
Technology has vast potential to improve lives, and fintech is no exception – but it also has some clear risks and downsides. And linking a complex industry like digital finance with client protection is no easy task. Lucia Spaggiari at MFR and Isabelle Barres at Accion’s Smart Campaign explore their organizations’ joint efforts to tackle this challenge through new client protection standards for digital credit providers. They invite people to provide input on these draft standards during the six-week public comment period, which runs until March 22.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
It’s Really Happening: Watching Impact Influence Capital
For more than two decades, impact measurement pioneers dreamed of the day when their tools would steer massive amounts of private capital into market-rate funds for social good. Now, writes Stephanie Kater at the Bridgespan Group, it’s actually starting to happen. Kater leads the Bridgespan team managing the impact underwriting for TPG’s Rise Fund, the $2 billion impact investing fund that Bono helped to launch. Kater pulls back the curtain on the processes undergirding the world’s largest impact investing fund.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
-
Why the Future is African – And Why SMEs Should Lead the Way
It’s conventional wisdom that small and medium enterprises are key to economic growth in emerging markets. This is particularly true in Africa, where local SMEs dominate the business landscape, and a fast-growing young population needs the services, jobs and economic growth they provide. But as Trevor Hambayi at Development Finance Associates explains, these enterprises face several unique challenges – starting with a lack of finance. He explores the problem, and some solutions that could help unlock the SME sector’s potential.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Don’t Fall for the World Bank’s Bold Claims About Financial Inclusion and the SDGs
"It sounds so simple: Everyone gets access to financial services and – presto – the foundations for the SGDs will be laid." That's the key message Phil Mader and Maren Duvendack took away from World Bank economist Leora Klapper's recent NextBillion post. But that rosy scenario, they say, bears no resemblance to reality. In fact, according to their exhaustive new review of existing research, the inconvenient truth is that financial inclusion is not accelerating progress toward the SDGs – and isn't even fundamental for attaining them.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Machine Learning in PAYGo: What You Need to Know Before You Jump In
Machine learning is an exciting technology with plenty of potential applications in social impact business. But as Jacob Winiecki at BFA points out, the hype around the approach may make it tempting to jump in without first determining if it's the right tool for the job. He offers a clear run-down of how machine learning actually works in practice, along with three concrete steps for how a PAYGo enterprise can implement the technology, based on the work BFA’s FIBR Project has done with ZOLA, a leading PAYGo solar operator in Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Technology
-
Critics: Give Development Impact Bonds a Chance to Learn to Walk Before They Run
Brian Boland, co-founder of The Delta Fund - a donor-advised fund focused on poverty alleviation and justice reform - pushes back on a recent critique of development impact bonds. That critique, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review by Kevin Starr, took DIBs to task for high costs and questioned whether the investor returns are justifiable. Boland argues that DIBs are in their infancy, investors are already learning a lot from early pilots, and any pioneering new system requires time before it can scale.
- Categories
- Investing
-
Working with Tech Vendors: Do’s and Don’ts for Development Organizations
Working with outside vendors in information and communications technologies is a necessary part of global development work – and when done well, it can provide a major boost to an organization’s mission. But there are good and bad ways to select and work with vendors, and many NGOs and social enterprises don’t recognize the importance of choosing the right approach. Nathan Barthel at Catholic Relief Services presents a list of “dos and don’ts” for development organizations to keep in mind when working with vendors – essential reading for anyone planning an ICT4D project.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- global development, NGOs
-
India’s Business Correspondent Model is Revolutionary – and It’s Failing: Here’s How to Turn Things Around
For years, India's banking system struggled to reach poor, rural populations. But the global revolution in digital payments has created new opportunities to connect these households with formal finance. One such approach – the business correspondent model – has shown promise, bringing a network of tech-enabled banking agents into underserved communities. But as Moin Qazi explains, the model is facing challenges that are undermining its considerable potential. He explores some key solutions for changing this dynamic.
- Categories
- Finance
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.