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A Cutting Edge Solution to a Global Problem: Why PAYGO Electromagnetic Induction Stoves Will Become the Leading Clean Cooking Technology by 2030
Half of the global population lacks access to clean, modern cooking services, costing the world’s economy approximately $2.4 trillion each year due to the adverse impact of open-fire cooking on health, climate and gender equality. Lachlan Harris, lead engineer at ATEC*, explains why electromagnetic induction stoves are the best option to address this issue. He explores the advantages of this technology in terms of energy efficiency, safety and scalability — and discusses how a pay-as-you-go model can help solve the affordability challenge.
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Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: A Microfinance Network Responds to the Devastating Reality of COVID-19 in India
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a disastrous toll in India, with over 27 million confirmed cases and 311,000 reported deaths. In the face of this emergency, Opportunity International is leveraging its network of microfinance partners to provide crucial assistance to hard-hit communities. CEO Atul Tandon explains how the organization is working with microfinance providers to convert their offices into emergency response and triage centers, while educating clients about pandemic-related health risks and providing them with food and supplies.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Health Care, Transportation
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Impact Investing in Financial Inclusion in Southeast Asia: Four Key Considerations for Investors and Enterprises
Southeast Asian nations are seeing movement toward greater financial inclusion, but this growth, fueled mostly by digital innovations, is not enough to meet customer needs, say Komal Sahu and Danielle Todesco of AVPN. They share four key considerations that investors and enterprises can take into account to promote interoperability, financial literacy and product accessibility while boosting financial access in the region.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Adapting to Survive: New Study Reveals the Importance of Digital Payments to Small and Micro Businesses in Mexico
An estimated 95% of businesses around the world are micro, small and medium enterprises, and they've been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Devin Olmack and Ashley Speyer at 60 Decibels discuss a new study of 750+ small and micro businesses owners in Mexico, which illustrates how digital payments can help these businesses grow and weather unpredictable storms like the pandemic. They share personal stories of small business owners who have benefited from digital payment systems, and detail some remaining obstacles and opportunities for growth.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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COVID-19 Is Showing Small Businesses the Benefits of Digital Financial Services: Here Are Three Ways Providers Can Use Data to Better Serve Them
Digital access to financial services has been growing in recent years, but COVID-19 has made it all the more necessary. BancoSol, a commercial bank serving 1.5 million Bolivian microentrepreneurs, saw its digital transactions rising over the last year and wanted to extend this trend beyond the pandemic — but it wasn't sure how. Kathleen Yaworsky at Accion and Aaron Lewin at Mastercard discuss how their organizations are supporting BancoSol through data-driven insights, and share three steps microfinance institutions can take to better serve the needs of their micro and small business customers.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Women Are Paying More for M-Pesa: A Gender Analysis of Mobile Money Fees in Kenya
The cost of using financial services is a key barrier to their adoption and use in low- and middle-income countries — and when it comes to mobile money transactions via M-Pesa in Kenya, those costs are greater for women, according to a recent study. Bryan Pon at Caribou Data shares details about the study's findings, and explains how understanding these gender differences could illuminate some of the obstacles women face when using digital financial services – and help inform policy or system design approaches that could address these challenges.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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‘Back in the U.S.S.D.’: Most Smartphone Owners—Especially Women—Don’t Use Apps for Financial Services
The global transition from basic mobile phones to smartphones has impacted nearly every sector, including financial services. Bryan Pon from Caribou Data considers whether this shift will help or hinder access to mobile money and digital finance for women in emerging markets — a group already less likely to be using these services. He shares the findings of a comprehensive study on how payment system design could impact gender bias in digital finance, and discusses the ongoing popularity — and under-recognized advantages — of old-fashioned USSD codes in mobile money.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
- Tags
- data, financial inclusion, fintech
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Winning the Low-Income Market: Assessing the State of Product Development in the Nigerian Financial Service Industry
Nigeria's financial inclusion goals have gone unmet, and the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed progress even further. Olayinka David-West and Ibukun Taiwo of the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services initiative of the Lagos Business School share the results of their 2020 study on the state of the Nigerian market, exploring the product development practices of the country's financial service providers – and how they could be improved.
- Categories
- Finance