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Kenya: Safaricom Faces M-Pesa Break Up in Market Dominance War
Telecoms operator Safaricom could be forced to hive off its popular mobile money service M-Pesa if sector regulator, the CA, moves to implement recommendations of a market dominance report.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why Omidyar Network is Excited About Technology Stacks for Financial Inclusion
There are a lot of buzzwords out there when it comes to technology, so we try not to get caught up with each new fad. But everywhere we look, we see a concept that promises to be a powerful driver of not only innovation, but also economic progress: technology stacks.
- Categories
- Technology
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National Payments Corporation of India begins pilot project to digitize transactions in microfinance sector
Under the project, RBL Bank will disburse loans and HDFC Bank will receive loan repayments for the transactions of Svatantra Microfinance using Aadhaar and USSD based facilities.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Social Business Roundup: A $1 Smartphone, the Upshot of Disparity and the Quizzing of Presidents
If you manufacture a phone that comes with apps advertising to low-income consumers, can you sell it for as little as $1? The folks at SocialEco think so. Other items NextBillion's editors came across for this week's Roundup included a concentration on wealth concentration, an unhappy birthday for M-Pesa, plus a presidential Q that will hopefully result in an A.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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Working With the Underbanked in the Age of Trump
Last fall, executives at Bee, a mobile financial services company, were having fruitful conversations about working together with municipal agencies and other organizations serving immigrants, people of color and low-wage workers.
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- Technology
- Region
- North America
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Somalia Is a Leader in Mobile Money But Still Wants to Print Its First Cash Notes in 25 Years
The collapse of the Somali government in 1991 saw the rise of unique political, economic and social outfits, all clambering to fill the void of government institutions. One of them was the emergence of a nonconforming monetary system, controlled by warlords and rogue businessmen, who contracted foreign printers and imported counterfeit money. This left the Somali economy in shambles, largely dependent on dollars for trade, and effectively created a freewheeling “economy without state.”
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
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Brazil’s Creditas Gets $19 Million Amid Boom in Local Fintech Financing
Creditas Soluções Financeiras Ltda, a Brazilian financial technology firm focused on secured consumer loans, has obtained $19 million from investors in a financing round that will allow it to provide borrowers with funds for one-fourth of what they pay to domestic lenders.
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- Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Bharat Financial begins Aadhaar-based cashless loan disbursal in India
In a first of its kind move in the micro-finance and financial-inclusion space, Bharat Financial Inclusion on Wednesday launched Aadhaar-based instant and cashless loan disbursal. It took less than seven minutes for 30-year-old Guddi Devi to apply and receive ₹29,565 loan for a new grocery shop she intends to set up.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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