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Linking the Needs of Customers and Providers: A Framework for Effective Financial Health Measurement
Many financial service providers (FSPs) want to improve the financial health of their low-income users, but they often struggle to measure it. According to Nishant Kumar and Sonal Agrawal at Lakshya, one key challenge is that many FSPs don't see the business benefits of investing in financial health measurement. They share three principles that can help providers understand the distinct needs of different user groups, and develop a measurement methodology that links customers with interventions that impact their financial health – while boosting the FSPs' bottom line.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Vote for NextBillion’s Most Influential Article of 2021
As an open forum for emerging markets business, NextBillion publishes around 150 original, guest-written articles per year, covering enterprises, innovations, challenges and opportunities across multiple sectors and geographies. Each December we select the 12 most-read articles of the past year to include in our "Most Influential Article of the Year" contest. We invite you to vote for the article that impacted you the most in 2021. You can vote up to one time per hour during the two-week voting period, which runs from Dec. 20 to Jan. 2.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Impact Assessment, Investing, Technology
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Accelerating Digital Transformation: Why Technology is the Key to Eliminating the MSME Finance Gap in Emerging Markets
According to the IFC, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets face a finance gap of $5.2 trillion every year. Since MSMEs are responsible for 70% of job opportunities in these countries, this gap must be addressed. According to Brian Pallas at Opportunity Network, that’s where digital technologies can offer a solution. He explores how emerging innovations offer alternative, tech-enabled means of financing for MSMEs, and how business leaders and policymakers can support these enterprises' digital transformation.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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India’s Unconventional COVID-19 Recovery: How Platformization and Digitalisation Can Build an Inclusive Post-Pandemic Economy
Most of India's labour force is employed in the informal sector, and these workers have faced unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: Over 78% of them lost their livelihoods in the initial lockdown, and many remain unemployed or underemployed. But Chhavi Banswal at Ola Mobility Institute highlights a silver lining behind these dark clouds – accelerated digitalisation and platformization. She explores how gig/platform workers have become a key part of the country's economy, and discusses a recent report showing how digital platforms can expand employment opportunities for all.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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The Ins and Outs of Launching a Digital Savings Product in Kenya: Regulatory Guidance for Fintech Startups
Kenya is among the most advanced markets in the world in terms of fintech innovation and digital financial services. But according to Abby Butkus at BFA Global's Catalyst Fund, this innovation has yet to extend to digital savings, where the uncertain regulatory environment requires startups to be creative in their approach. She discusses four ways startups are approaching the regulatory process for their digital savings products, and shares a set of guides Catalyst Fund has released to aid founders in navigating the regulatory environments in Kenya and other countries.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Microfinance for Better Housing: How the Sector Can Serve Low-Income Borrowers in India and Other Emerging Markets
In most emerging countries, populations are growing and the numbers moving into cities are rising even faster. Providing housing for these often low-income individuals has become a huge global challenge. But as development sector researcher Moin Qazi points out, these borrowers' lack of credit history, collateral and property rights makes it difficult for both traditional commercial lenders and microfinance providers to serve them. He explores the challenges facing housing microfinance in India and other emerging markets, and highlights some solutions.
- Categories
- Finance
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The Next Financial Inclusion Revolution: The Transformative Potential of Scaling Small Group Savings in the World’s Poorest Communities
Despite $52 billion invested in financial inclusion in 2019 alone, nearly 2 billion people – many of them among the world’s poorest – still lack access to formal finance. As Jeffrey Ashe at Grassroots Finance Action points out, these communities often turn to informal savings and credit groups to meet their financial needs – but there are many who are too poor and marginalized to be invited to be part of these groups. He explores a proposal that aims to expand access to informal savings groups to reach these financially excluded individuals around the world.
- Categories
- Finance
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Local Context Matters: Why Localization is Key to Accelerating Financial Inclusion in Africa
Mobile technology has proven to be an effective tool for broadening financial inclusion in Africa. But as Kenny Orisanaiye at HollaTags Limited points out, the continent’s cultural diversity complicates these efforts, as Africa has several thousand ethnic groups and over 2,000 distinct languages. He explores how financial service providers can design innovative solutions to this challenge by embracing localization and adapting their products and user engagement content to serve the specific cultural requirements of the African market.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology