Articles by James Militzer
-
Saturday
November 1
2014Weekly Roundup – 11/1/14: Apple Pay is here – should low-income consumers care?
As you may have heard, Apple recently launched a mobile payment app in the U.S. Within three days, it had become the top mobile wallet in the country - and sparked some surprising resistance. We discuss the implications for low-income consumers in the U.S. and emerging markets, along with some good news in global development, in this Roundup.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, NextBillion Originals, Technology
-
Interviews
Friday
October 31
2014Prepaid Protections: An interview with Cecilia Frew, Head of U.S. Prepaid at Visa
Prepaid debit cards are booming in the U.S., with consumers loading over $64 billion onto them in 2012. But due to regulatory uncertainty, there’s widespread confusion about their fees and terms. To address this, Visa is creating a special designation for cards that meet a set of consumer-friendly standards. We spoke with Cecilia Frew, Visa’s Head of U.S. Prepaid, about the product.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Wednesday
October 22
2014‘Independence from Credit’: Pro Mujer co-founder Carmen Velasco discusses self-help groups, and how much profit is too much in microfinance
As a pioneer of microfinance in Latin America, Pro Mujer co-founder Carmen Velasco has had a front-row seat for the sector’s tumultuous evolution over the past two decades. In this video Q&A, Part Two in our series on The Future of Microfinance, she discusses the need for MFIs to help clients move beyond credit - and how self-help savings groups could make some microcredit providers obsolete.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
-
Thursday
October 16
2014Funding to Reach the Tipping Point: Doug Balfour, CEO of Geneva Global, on how to spark collaboration that amplifies social impact
Geneva Global funds social impact projects worldwide, and it has fine-tuned the way it works with local community-based organizations to maximize its philanthropic bang for the buck. In part 7 of our Impact Investing Insights series, its CEO Doug Balfour explains how the company aims to create a virtuous cycle through its grants, leading to sustainable, long-term social change.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
-
Saturday
October 11
2014Weekly Roundup – 10/11/14: The Battle of Kenya
Has the battle for Kenya’s mobile money market officially begun? For months we’ve been following the growing tension between Equity Bank and Safaricom, as everyone from regulators to politicians took sides. But this week the war may have begun in earnest - though both parties continue to downplay the rivalry. We discuss the implications in this Roundup.
- Categories
- NextBillion Originals, Technology
-
Saturday
September 20
2014Weekly Roundup – 9/20/14: An awkward moment, new momentum and a brewing battle highlight recent developments in finance
Muhammad Yunus has issued some pointed criticisms of microfinance’s turn toward profit. But is the sector he pioneered listening to him - and are his ideals even realistic in the first place? We discuss these questions - along with signs of momentum in impact investing and new developments in a Kenyan mobile money battle - in this Roundup.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, NextBillion Originals
-
Interviews
Thursday
September 18
2014An Interview With Muhammad Yunus: The Godfather of Microcredit Shares His Views – And Concerns – About the Sector
Though he’s a tireless promoter of microcredit’s potential to help the poor, Muhammad Yunus hasn’t been shy in voicing his criticisms of its embrace of commercialism. In a video Q&A with NextBillion Financial Innovation – the first in a series of conversations with microfinance thought leaders – Yunus discusses his concerns about the industry’s direction, and points to ways it could improve.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
-
Thursday
September 11
2014The Eternal Struggle of Microfinance: The Microcredit Summit raised questions about the sector’s future – but does anyone have an answer?
As last week’s Microcredit Summit wrapped up in Mexico, the topics of over-indebtedness and high interest rates reared their ugly heads. The final day served up a riveting debate that pitted a representative of a Mexican microfinance network against one of the sector’s most vocal critics. The questions raised were crucial to the future of microfinance - but the answers remain elusive.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
