Articles by James Militzer
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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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- Uncategorized
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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 -
Wednesday
December 11
2013‘I had 250 angry police officers banging at my door’: The CEO of Roshan on the promise and perils of providing mobile money in Afghanistan
As the CEO of Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications provider, Karim Khoja has been at the front lines of that country’s struggles to modernize its economy - and his experiences have been both inspiring and nerve-racking. In Part 2 of our Mobile Money Movers series, he talks with Global Envision’s Kyla Yeoman about the lessons he’s learned about mobile money’s potential to transform lives.
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- Technology
- Tags
- digital payments
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Thursday
December 5
2013Mobile Money Movers – Part 1: A conversation with Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Head of Strategy for Financial Services at Safaricom
M-Pesa is the world’s leading mobile money system, and one of the biggest success stories in the history of BoP business. Launched in Kenya by Safaricom in 2007, it’s now used by over two-thirds of Kenya’s adult population - and it is expanding to other countries in Africa and beyond. In Part 1 of our Mobile Money Movers series, Kyla Yeoman interviews Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Head of Strategy for Financial Services at Safaricom.
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- Uncategorized