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Can digital credit work for development?
The rise of digital banking means that people around the world can now borrow, save or pay with their mobile phones. Digital credit providers are using alternative sources of data to determine creditworthiness and provide loans to populations that have never had access to them before.
But while these products offer a convenient way for consumers to access cash for personal or business expenses, they also present risks. If borrowers do not understand the loan terms, or take out more than they are able to repay, the result can be bankruptcy.- Categories
- Technology
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Omise to raise $19M in first cryptocurrency sale from a major VC-backed startup
Kik has raised over $120 million from investors to date and it claims 300 million registered users, making it the most established company to throw its hat in the ICO ring thus far, but it is about to be beaten to the punch by Omise, a Thailand-based company that provides Stripe-like payment features in Japan and Southeast Asia.
- Categories
- Technology
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Reserve Bank of India allows co-operative banks to issue mobile wallets
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed co-operative banks, who are permitted to install ATMs and issue debit cards, to also issue prepaid payment instruments PPIs like mobile wallets.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- mobile finance
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This refugee aid app was built over a weekend. Now hundreds of nonprofits rely on it.
Taylor is behind the Refugee Aid app, or RefAid, which connects refugees with crucial services when and where they need them most. More than 400 of the largest aid organizations in the world—from the Red Cross to Save the Children to Doctors of the World—all use it.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- nonprofits, refugees
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Inside India’s Plans To Leapfrog The Western Model Of Car Ownership
If successful, the shift would save the country $60 billion in diesel and gas costs in 2030. Instead of 170 million cars, the number expected with the current trajectory, there would be 77 million. CO2 emissions from passenger transport would drop 37% compared to the business-as-usual scenario; energy use in passenger transport would drop 64%.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Indians are using mobile wallets more but for smaller purchases
As the Indian economy recovers, mobile wallet payments are continuing to accelerate. Their transaction value of over $3.6 billion in the first quarter of 2017 marked a 60% increase from the previous quarter, according to a new report from RedSeer Management Consulting.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Fintech’s Coming to Trounce India’s Banks
India's banks, which still dominate the country's financial landscape, appear to have hardly a kick left in them. Stressed assets without any loan-loss cover now exceed $96 billion, McKinsey & Co. said last week. An overwhelming 91 percent, or $87 billion, of the provisioning gap is at state-run lenders, whose net worth would be wiped out if they took the hit on their capital.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- fintech, mobile finance
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OpenInvest Asks Investors to Put Their Money Where Their Values Are
OpenInvest is grown 85 percent since its soft launch last September, so Tech.Co used their seed round announcement as an opportunity to have a chat with OpenInvest CEO and cofounder Conor Murray about just how OpenInvest’s unique approach to socially responsible investing works.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- impact investing