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Viewpoint: What developing countries can teach America about banking
For many, the inability to even get to a physical branch — bank branches are highly concentrated in urban areas — means that they don't have access to banking services at all. As a result, about 6.5% of American households still don't have a bank account, while another 18.7% are "underbanked" — they have an account, but also use check-cashing or payday loans. In all, over 60 million adults are unbanked or "underbanked" in this country.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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Press release: New Report Shows Creating Financial Access for Immigrants & Underserved Entrepreneurs Increases Credit Scores and Leads to Job Creation
Opportunity Fund research shows microlending to immigrant and underserved entrepreneurs in California creates a path into the mainstream economy for borrowers and leads to job creation and economic activity in communities.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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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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