Articles by Jatinder Handoo
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Wednesday
April 27
2016Airtime to the Rescue: Why India Should Mobilize Telcos for Disaster Relief
Last April, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal, telcos offered free mobile airtime for 48 hours to their customers based in India, so they could connect with their family members and friends in Nepal. This example illustrates the potential of utilizing the payments infrastructure to respond to natural disasters. I believe this potential could be more fully realized by channeling relief and rehabilitation funds to disaster victims using airtime as currency – and India is the ideal proving ground for the concept.
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Wednesday
August 26
201510 Challenges That Could Make or Break India’s Payments Banks: Their revolutionary potential is no guarantee
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India announced that it will issue 11 Payments Bank (PB) licenses, permitting a variety of institutions to provide a limited slate of financial services to underserved populations. The RBI hopes PBs will “revolutionize banking” in India, but their impact is not guaranteed. Here are 10 challenges PBs will face – and how they can live up to the government’s ambitious goals.
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Monday
April 27
2015NexThought Monday: Is Faster Necessarily Better?: As India’s financial inclusion initiatives race forward, questions linger about its microfinance-focused MUDRA
The pace of recent financial inclusion initiatives in India has been supersonic. Since August of last year, banks have opened 147 million new accounts, thanks largely to government programs. But while this progress is exciting, there are a number of unanswered questions about the real impact of these initiatives, including the new microfinance refinancer/regulator MUDRA.
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Thursday
October 3
2013A Financial Inclusion Revolution?: How last mile delivery and payment systems innovations could help transform India’s economy
India has been fertile ground for many emerging market innovations, in sectors ranging from health care to sustainable energy. Now the country is on the cusp of a financial inclusion revolution shaped by payment system innovations and doorstep delivery models. If it succeeds, it may provide a model of how innovation and forward-thinking public policy can help transform BoP economies.
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