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New ‘M-Shwari-Like’ Service Launched in Kenya
Safaricom has entered into a partnership with a leading bank in Kenya, the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), to launch a mobile banking product similar to M-shwari, named KCB-MPesa Account.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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3 Ways to Fight Financial Exclusion
Inclusion is one of the hottest development topics of 2015. Being excluded, financially or socially, perpetuates unemployment, inequality and poverty. With 1.8 billion young people in the world, and this number growing most rapidly in the countries with the highest rates of exclusion, we can’t afford to hesitate in addressing this problem.
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- Uncategorized
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‘Financial inclusion is not going to be realized without smartly leveraging technology’: An interview with Carol Caruso, Senior Vice President, Channels and Technology at Accion
With cellphones booming in developing countries, achieving universal financial inclusion by 2020 is no longer unrealistic. Accion has been at the forefront of digital finance as an anti-poverty tool. We recently spoke with Carol Caruso, who leads Accion’s Channels & Technology unit, about what the future holds.
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- Uncategorized
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Does India Need Microfinance-Focused Mudra Bank?
Do we need yet another refinance agency in the Indian financial system? Quite a few such agencies already exist; none of them can claim to be a success by any yardstick.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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Why Bitcoin Regulation Lags Where it’s Needed Most
International remittance is ostensibly one of the most compelling use cases for bitcoin and digital currencies. Recorded remittances to Africa grew four-fold between 1990 and 2010 and have increased steadily since. The World Bank projects $39bn in remittances to sub-Saharan Africa this year.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- regulations, remittances
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Argentina Challenges HSBC to Condemn ‘Financial Piracy’ As It Demands $3.5bn From Swiss Accounts
Argentina has challenged HSBC to publicly denounce alleged tax evasion at the bank's Argentine subsidiary, saying not doing so would be an act of "financial piracy".
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Latin America
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Indonesia, The Calm Before the Storm: Helix Institute discusses the implications of new regulations on the country’s mobile money agent networks
In Indonesia, regulatory uncertainly has kept big digital financial services players from investing to scale aggressively. But with new regulations, that may soon change. The Helix Institute examines the implications for Indonesian mobile money agent networks in the latest report from its Agent Network Accelerator Survey.
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- Uncategorized
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Viewpoint: Adopting the Lean Startup Approach
Most startups fail to take off. The traditional method of starting a business has been to come up with a business plan, get investors to back it, assemble your dream team, get a product in play and push it hard. But this approach often exposes entrepreneurs to risks that blindside them later. The same could be said of the big ideas often touted to help the poor in emerging markets, either with access to cleaner water and sanitation or education.
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- Uncategorized
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