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Press release: Nine new projects focused on financial inclusion to receive more than US $9 million
Lindsay Wallace, Director of Strategy and Learning at the Mastercard Foundation, said: “The aim of the FRP has always been to enable smallholder farmers and poor people living in rural Africa to reach their full potential by supporting new private sector initiatives that provide access to financial services. We’re very happy to see this latest round of selected firms, demonstrating the depth and breadth of ideas and action plans that will do just that.”
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why India lags peers in digital payments
Yet despite this growth, after adjusting for population, India continues to lag other major countries. Among the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Russia leads the way with the average adult making more than 200 non-cash transactions annually.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Mauritius-based startup works on first Africa-developed blockchain
A Mauritius-based startup is working on the first highly-efficient mobile blockchain developed in Africa, which it says is set to see large-scale consumer adoption by 2021.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- blockchain, fintech, startups
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Viewpoint: Designing financial products for women
Current financial service models conflate women with ‘family’, considering them merely an avenue to pursue social welfare.
- Categories
- Finance
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Creating a Culture of Innovation By Letting Employees Lead the Way
For nearly 30 years, Pro Mujer has been a regional leader in Latin America – not only in microfinance, but in women’s empowerment. But facing an evolving landscape with emerging technologies and new market participants, the organization realized that it needed to develop a more innovative approach. As it considered how to establish a culture of innovation, Pro Mujer turned to a surprising (yet intuitive) resource: its employees. Cassandra Salcedo, Associate Director of Strategy and Innovation at Pro Mujer, shares five key lessons the organization learned from the process.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Google touts 30 million monthly users for its mobile-payment platform in India
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has dominant positions in search, advertising and mobile devices, but the company has had to play from behind when it comes to mobile payments.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Ban on Aadhaar linking may crimp growth of financial players in India
Last month, the Supreme Court had declared the government's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Over 8 of 10 Small Banks, Microlenders and Co-Ops in the Philippines are Not Ready to Go Digital
“The dominant picture in our data is that majority of financial institutions are not yet ready to transform their business at this point, confirming anecdotal evidence long held by the industry,” wrote FINTQ in the report. “This conclusion indeed raises a notch higher the urgency in enabling financial institutions to be digitally ready, as the pattern uncovered in our data has profound implications on the country’s progress towards expanding financial inclusion in the countryside.”
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific