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Application period for the European Microfinance Award 2017 on Microfinance for Housing now open
The European Microfinance Award is a prestigious €100,000 award which attracts applications from financial institutions around the world that are innovating in a particular area of financial inclusion. Presented annually, it serves two parallel goals: rewarding excellence, and collecting and disseminating the most relevant practices for replication by others.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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RegTech for Regulators: Reimagining Financial Supervision and Policymaking
The authors – representing BFA, USAID, the Gates Foundation and Omidyar Network – say tomorrow's financial customers and service providers will be able to leverage technology to engage in a real-time, two-way conversation to quickly obtain information and resolve problems, benefitting consumers, regulators and financial institutions alike.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Unlocking the Power of Digital Financial Services for Humanitarian Response
More people worldwide are in crisis than ever before and the humanitarian sector is transforming how it responds to them; it's moving away from a commodities-based approach toward cash-based assistance. Digitizing these cash payments can help build bridges between the humanitarian and development sectors, but progress has been slow. What can speed it up? A new report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation might help.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- data, digital finance, fintech
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Using Evidence to Optimize Savings and Loan Payment Channel Choices
The OPTIX team at BFA, along with partner Banco WWB in Colombia, set out to learn more about various client interactions with financial service providers; for instance, why do clients choose a certain transaction location? The work is designed to help Banco WWB strengthen their business while creating a more compelling portfolio of services for their customers’ needs.
- Categories
- Finance
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The Fourth Industrial Revolution: How Big Data and Machine Learning Can Boost Inclusive Fintech
It's easier and cheaper to generate data than ever before, and the tools to turn data into insights are growing exponentially. So much so, according to Matt Grasser of BFA, that any organization dealing with data that does not apply machine learning will be left behind. He explores the experiences of Destacame.cl, a fintech startup, in using machine learning to help identify good and bad payers based on a score.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Microfinance for Refugee Populations: What We’ve Learned and Where to Go Next
Currently, 21.3 million people are registered with United Nations agencies as refugees, and their financial inclusion has become a matter of importance and urgency. The Social Performance Task Force has been working to identify the refugees' needs and recently compiled some guidelines, “Serving Refugee Populations: The Next Financial Inclusion Frontier,” for financial service providers.
- Categories
- Finance
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Don’t Just Color It Pink and Call It Financial Inclusion for Women
To close the financial inclusion gender gap, providers will have to do more than simply making cosmetic changes to their existing services. To that end, more than 100 financial regulators and policymakers recently gathered in Fiji and adopted a 10-point proposal focused on creating regulatory and operational environments conducive to bringing financial products and services to women – a possible game-changer for women’s financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Finance, Uncategorized
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How Catalyst Fund Helped PayGo Energy Build a Foundation for Growth
As startups move past a proof of concept and start to scale, they require whole new sets of systems, operational processes and skills that will allow them to grow and expand. A well-thought-out backend system can help make the transition, but building it requires a team with the technical expertise to implement the right changes.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- fintech, microfinance