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Telecoms firms pin hopes on mobile banking
Cellular operators want to open up their networks for more banking transactions as they have pinned their hopes on mobile money to grow revenues in the future. According to Fredrik Jejdling, Ericsson’s sub-Saharan African regional head, the most downloaded mobile apps in Africa now were banking apps. Social networks were the second most downloaded.
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A data-driven perspective on Islamic finance
In an effort to add some empirical rigor to ongoing debates surrounding Islamic finance, a new working paper and Findex Note explore differences in the usage of formal financial services between Muslims and non-Muslims, and the usage of and preference for Sharia-compliant banking products.
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- Education
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Mobile banking without a phone: Here comes the bank van
In Uganda, Rwanda, and the Philippines mobile banking vans reach out to the rural poor as an alternative to cell phone banking schemes.
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Microinsurance: Ripe for Disruption
The microinsurance market grew to more than 500 million risks in 2011, from 78 million risks in 2006, and could be as large as 360 million people in Latin America alone, according to a report from Celent.
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- Education
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- research
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World Bank says expanded access to banking services comes with risks
In a new report, the World Bank warns that while some services, like low-fee accounts, clearly benefit the poor and small firms, others - such as microcredit, microinsurance, and debt relief - can do more harm than good.
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In Crowdfunding, New Source of Aid After Catastrophe
After the devastating floods in Colordado, with no flood insurance, and limited access to credit and small business loans, people turned to online charitable giving — a crowdfunding platform called GoFundMe — to help raise money to regain their footing.
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- crowdfunding
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Financial innovation the next big thing in clean energy and efficiency
A new wave of innovation is sweeping the energy transition sector, promising to accelerate deployment and cut the costs of energy-efficiency measures, as well as wind and solar generation. It isn’t a technological improvement, like cutting hardware and labor costs. It isn’t a policy mechanism like feed-in tariffs. It isn’t even a new business model, like selling storage services. It’s financial innovation.
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- Energy, Environment
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Why Micro-Lending Needs A Vision Lift
For most people, the term ‘micro-lending’ connotes lending micro amounts of money to low-income people to help them build a micro-business. When entrepreneurs achieve these modest goals, everyone heaves a sigh of relief. Is this a case of being satisfied with modest goals, i.e. aim low and settle for little?
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- Uncategorized
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- microfinance