-
When Digital Payment Waves Lead to ‘Unbanking’
Ironically, fintechs and cashless payment technologies who promise to ensure financial inclusion often achieve the opposite results.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
-
Press Release: GSMA Report Highlights That Mobile Money Accounts Now Exceed One Billion Worldwide
The GSMA yesterday unveiled the annual ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’, offering a view of the mobile money landscape and highlighting the impact that greater financial inclusion has on lives, economies and innovation, especially in emerging markets.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Financial Health and the Coronavirus: Another Failure to Prepare
Even before the coronavirus crisis, global financial health was surprisingly precarious, with many people unprepared to weather a significant financial shock. As Elisabeth Rhyne points out, this issue is becoming painfully clear now that the pandemic is causing mass disruptions in income and employment. She explores the lasting consequences this will have, and calls on policymakers to provide relief now – and to make financial health an urgent priority going forward.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Mobile Money Providers Score a Major Win – But Are They at Risk of Losing it All?
According to the GSMA’s recently launched 2019 State of the Industry report, mobile money achieved some major milestones last year: There are now more than 1 billion accounts, and for the first time, the majority of transaction values are digital. But according to Arunjay Katakam, mobile money providers will soon face a new challenge that could upend their industry, as internet-based "over-the-top" payments providers are poised to transform the competitive landscape.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Covid-19 attack limits MFI outreach
Microfinance firms are slowing down new loan disbursements in the country’s rural heartland as a direct fallout of the coronavirus outbreak. They are also facing non-repayment from borrowers whose earnings may take a hit as the country goes into lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Tags
- microfinance
-
How Bridge Loans Can Aid Nonprofits and Social Enterprises Through the Covid-19 Crisis
“We sometimes refer to our work as the everyday emergency room of impact—our borrowers are coming to us during a time of crisis when something outside their control has gone wrong,” says Maya Winkelstein, chief executive officer of Open Road Alliance, a philanthropic initiative based in New York.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Tags
- nonprofits, philanthropy
-
Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Push Africa’s Mobile Money Markets to the Next Level?
Kenya is arguably the world's top mobile money market, and one reason for its success is that a “trigger” event – the post-election violence of 2008 – forced the rapid, large-scale adoption of mobile payment services. Jill Lagos Shemin explores how the unique demands of the coronavirus pandemic could prove to be a similar catalyst for mobile money growth in other countries, and how providers and other stakeholders can build upon this momentum to create more inclusive digital ecosystems for underserved customers.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
-
An Overlooked Obstacle to Digital Finance in Nigeria: How Persistent Right of Way Issues Have Hindered Financial Inclusion
Mobile financial services have rapidly boosted financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa. But the region’s largest economy, Nigeria, has consistently failed to keep pace with its peers. Many analysts have attributed this to the country’s regulatory caution, but according to Olayinka David-West and Ibukun Taiwo at the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services initiative of the Lagos Business School, there's an even more fundamental obstacle the country must overcome.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
Subscribe to Our 'Business in Global Development' Newsletter!
Our new weekly LinkedIn newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with curated news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage of impact-focused business in emerging markets.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.