Articles by James Militzer
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Tuesday
February 11
2014Insuring Impact: A Q&A with the co-founder of HUGInsure, the world’s first social impact insurance
Few new products or concepts can be described as "the first of their kind." But Dalberg and Hollard Insurance recently launched what they believe to be the world’s first social impact insurance entity, HUGinsure. It applies rating methodologies and risk management principles to social impact funding, helping facilitate loans to projects that impact the poor.
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- Impact Assessment
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Friday
February 7
2014A Bank Account for All Adults … By 2016: India’s Nachiket Mor committee report has made headlines – will it make an impact?
In India, 40 percent of the population doesn’t have access to financial services. But a Reserve Bank of India committee has recommended providing bank accounts for all Indian adults by 2016 - and it has an intriguing plan for doing so. Some see this as “the starting point for a new financial architecture" in India. Will the impact measure up to the ambition?
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- Uncategorized
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Saturday
February 1
2014Weekly Roundup 2/1/14: Us and Them: Poverty goes mainstream in the U.S. – can financial innovation help?
The majority of Americans will spend at least a year in or near poverty between the ages of 25 and 60. And four out of five will encounter one or more poverty-related conditions in their lifetime. It’s clear that poverty isn’t just a major problem in the developing world. That’s why NextBillion is expanding our coverage to forward-thinking business solutions to domestic poverty.
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- Impact Assessment
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Thursday
January 23
2014“It is high time for mobile network operators to transform”: The CEO of Eko, on bridging the bank/telco divide
There is no love lost between banks and telcos in many countries. But Eko has found a way to leverage the strengths of both to bring needed banking services to underserved customers. In Part 5 of our Mobile Money Movers series, Eko CEO Abhishek Sinha discusses his company’s unique branchless banking model, and the need for telcos to evolve - perhaps by emulating Facebook.
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Interviews
Thursday
January 16
2014Mobile Money Movers – Part 4: An interview with Greg Chen, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP
In Part 4 of our Mobile Money Movers series, Mercy Corps’ Kyla Yeoman and Greg Chen, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP, discuss the benefits of moving toward a cashless society, and the ways that financial service providers are using technology and innovation to onboard (and maintain) new clients and increase uptake among the unbanked.
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- Finance
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Tuesday
January 14
2014Crowdfunding, Smartphones and Bitcoin, Oh My…: Seven financial innovation questions that could shape 2014
2013 was a momentous – perhaps even an historic – year for financial innovation and inclusion, and it has left us primed for a fascinating 2014. Here are seven questions raised by some of 2013’s biggest developments that could resonate in the coming year and beyond.
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Interviews
Wednesday
January 8
2014The Power of Interoperability: An interview with Zahir Khoja, CEO of MasterCard’s Mobile Payment Solutions
Lack of interoperability is widely seen as a key barrier to mobile money’s global uptake. But MasterCard’s Mobile Payment Solutions thinks it has found an answer. In this interview with Mercy Corps’ Kyla Yeoman (part 3 of our Mobile Money Movers series), CEO Zahir Khoja discusses the challenges of working with telcos, banks and merchants, and the ways that an interoperable payment tool can impact people’s daily lives at the BoP.
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- Finance
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Thursday
December 19
2013