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Viewpoint: It’s Time to Green Our Financial Deserts
Since 2010, more than 5,000 bank branches have closed in communities across the United States. Meanwhile, expensive alternative financial service providers like check cashers and payday lenders continued to proliferate at an alarming rate. Not surprisingly, these two trends have disproportionately impacted hard-working people of color, trapping roughly 9 million African-American families in a world where it costs more to have less.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Looks to Its Entrepreneurs
With a majority of African nations diversifying from traditional sources of income, entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a key to economic growth. So far, entrepreneurship has yielded huge returns for entrepreneurs, and according to experts, there lies great untapped potential to drive the African continent into its next phase of development.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Google to Ban Payday Loan Advertisements
Google announced Wednesday that it will ban all payday loan ads from its site, bowing to concerns by advocates who say the lending practice exploits the poor and vulnerable by offering them immediate cash that must be paid back under sky-high interest rates.
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- Uncategorized
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- lending
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Online Lenders Already in Turmoil Facing U.S. Call for Rules
Marketplace lenders need to be more transparent about their business practices and some should be subject to additional oversight from U.S. regulators, according to a Treasury Department study released as the industry grapples with market turmoil and a scandal involving one of its leading firms.
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- Uncategorized
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- lending, regulations
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Equity Crowdfunding for Non-Rich People Is Coming
Today—unless you have a net worth of at least one million dollars, or an income of at least $200,000 per year—it is not legal for you to receive equity in exchange for backing a company on a crowdfunding site. But as of next May 16, Title III of the JOBS Act goes into effect, bringing equity crowdfunding to the 99%.
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- Uncategorized
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- crowdfunding, regulations
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Tight Government Regulation, Paucity of Innovation Limiting Crowdfunding Startups in India
Crowdfunding is globally a $16-billion industry and as per estimates, in 2016 with a total investment volume of $34 billion, it is likely to overtake the amount of equity funding from venture capitalists to startups which is $30 billion.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- crowdfunding, regulations
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Innovations in Financial Capability: Four Lessons For Providers
Building successful financial capability requires moving beyond traditional modes of product delivery and financial education. Accion identified several best practices from organizations that habitually learn from their clients’ needs and behaviors, and tailor their products to meet those needs and build capability. Here are four lessons from their new report on the topic.
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Stanford University Business Program Takes Root in East Africa
Building on the success of its program in West Africa, Stanford Seed (http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/seed/home), the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, has announced the launch of the Seed Transformation Program in East Africa (http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/seed/transformation-program/east-africa).
- Source
- Press Release
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa