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New Report: Small Merchants Offer Big Financial Inclusion Opportunities
Increasing micro and small merchants’ use of cashless payment systems will require broad participation and innovation from the financial sector, regulators, governments and the private sector. But the impact will be transformative for millions of small merchants, their customers and the broader economies in which they operate.
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The Father of M-Pesa on Being Innovative in Africa
Nick Hughes is known for being at the forefront of innovation in Africa. He is responsible for founding and developing the M-Pesa mobile payments service in the mid-2000s while working at Vodafone. Today the platform is hailed as one of Africa’s top success stories. Over 70% of the Kenyan population uses M-Pesa, and other markets – such as Tanzania – are showing strong adoption.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Colombia, Peru tied for first place in new report on global financial inclusion
The 2016 Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion shows that essential policies for bringing financial services to low-income groups are now widespread in the developing world. Nine of the 12 financial inclusion indicators covered in the benchmarking index improved globally in 2016, building on gains made during the last decade.
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- Latin America
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Impak Finance Says Its Launching Canada’s First Socially Responsible Bank
Consumers are becoming more and more engaged. They want to buy local, from ethical companies with social and environmental aims. They want that transparency, and they want to help to improve our society. This change is also apparent in the banking system, where social enterprises are expanding in Canada and elsewhere; this industry has also seen the emergence of several non-traditional banking models across the planet. A good example is Triodos, a bank in the Netherlands that did not lose a penny through the economic crisis of 2008, as a result of investing solely in the impact economy – that which has a direct impact on the community — rather than the financial economy.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- North America
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What Digital Finance Means For Emerging Economies
Financial services are the lifeblood of an economy, enabling households and businesses alike to save, invest, and protect themselves against risk. Yet in many emerging economies today, the majority of individuals and small businesses lack access to basic savings and credit products, which hinders economic growth and perpetuates poverty.
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Center for Financial Services Innovation Unveils Framework for Responsible Industry-Wide Sharing of Consumer Financial Data
The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) today released its guide for the responsible sharing of consumer financial data: "Consumer Data Sharing Principles: A Framework for Industry-Wide Collaboration."
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- fintech
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Global Microscope Highlights Gains in Financial Inclusion and Digitization of Financial Services
Financial inclusion is now on the global agenda and is understood to be a critical foundation in the improvement of livelihoods, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) 2016 Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion. More than half of the 55 countries studied improved their enabling environment for financial inclusion in all areas in the past year.
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The Mismatch: Customers Seek Holistic Solutions, Financial Service Providers Operate in Silos
Digital financial service providers too often operate in silos, designing products to solve particular financial needs. Meanwhile, users tend to blend a mix of formal and informal financial services to meet their needs. The challenge for FSPs is to recognize users' behaviors and respond accordingly, particularly to their need for flexibility and timeliness.
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