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Vodafone’s mobile wallet service M-Pesa in Kerala
Vodafone India and ICICI Bank today announced the launch of 'M-Pesa', a mobile money transfer and payment service, in Kerala. 'M-Pesa' is the trademark of Vodafone. The service was formally launched today by Suresh Kumar, operations director - south; S Murali, Business head - Kerala and Suresh Sethi, business head of M-Pesa.
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Insights from Everyday Entrepreneurs: In Accion’s inaugural Orange Book, very small businesses share their stories
Very small businesses—those with five employees or less—represent over 90 percent of all small businesses in the U.S. As economic drivers in their communities, these businesses have valuable perspectives on entrepreneurship and the economy. Accion has released the Orange Book, a compilation of quantitative and anecdotal data sourced from these everyday entrepreneurs.
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- microfinance
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NexThought Monday: Who will grab the fortune at the base of the pyramid?
In a recent post on NextBillion, Stuart Hart, who co-authored The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid with C. K. Prahalad, wrote with concern about the potential of creating disruptive innovations for poor customers that can trickle up to Western markets. We don’t believe Professor Hart has anything to worry about — because major corporations have demonstrated no meaningful interest in the bottom-of-the-pyramid market. And we don’t think they’re likely to do so in the future, either.
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Mor panel’s financial inclusion report may be put on back burner in India
The Union finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have raised questions on viability and implementation of the recommendations made in the Nachiket Mor committee's report. The panel had, among other things, suggested a new banking structure to foster financial inclusion.
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MasterCard funding Grameen Foundation initiative to bring financial services to the unbanked in Kenya
MasterCard is funding a Grameen Foundation initiative to bring financial services to the poor and the unbanked in Kenya.
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Postal bank test awaits new government in India
he high profile spat between the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry over converting India’s loss-making 1.54 lakh post offices under India Post into a bank is likely to be one of the challenging issues that the next government will have to handle.
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Why investors are pouring millions into crowdfunding
There is no shortage of evidence testifying to the value of crowdfunding for those seeking to finance a new product idea, company, or even personal need. Just this month, Kickstarter-born Oculus VR was snatched up by Facebook for $2 billion. Smartwatch-maker Pebble sold more than 400,000 of its crowdfunded smartwatches last year. And in March, Kickstarter surpassed $1 billion in pledges made.
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Facebook faces multiple barriers to success in mobile payments
Facebook is a digital landscape filled with memes, selfies and cat pictures. The social media behemoth does not conjure up visions of a vibrant payments ecosystem, though, especially with its past failures. But that might be about to change.
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