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Mexican Banks Using Mobile Payments Technology to Enable Digital Transactions at Mom-and-Pop Stores
In a bid to increase card payments and financial inclusion, Mexican banks are collaborating with mobile payments technology vendors to deploy mPOS solutions at mom-and-pop stores. The Mexican government encourages these initiatives, as around 70 percent of all purchases in Mexico are made with cash and the informal economy represents 30 percent of GDP.
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- Uncategorized
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- Latin America
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Press Release: Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and HelpAge Int’l Report – Aging and Financial Inclusion: An Opportunity
Today, the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and HelpAge International released Aging and Financial Inclusion: An Opportunity, a report that examines the unmet financial needs of the rapidly growing global aging population, particularly in the developing world. The purpose of this report is to highlight the barriers and opportunities related to financial services in older age and throughout the aging process, a relatively neglected area of study.
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- Uncategorized
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- Latin America
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Viewpoint: Profit Is Not a Dirty Word
Sustainability is an all too overused word that is rarely linked to the word profit. Yet sustainability and profit go hand in hand. When it comes to building a network of health facilities in a developing country using a social franchising model similar to how business franchises operate; the link between profit and sustainability is imperative. Without one we cannot hope to have the other.
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- Environment, Health Care
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- Latin America
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Study to Offer Microloans to Tijuana Sex Workers
A study that looks at links between poverty and high-risk behavior among Tijuana sex workers will offer loans to a group of 60 women this year. The dollar amount is small— initially about $200 per participant — and the researchers hope that the women will use the money to launch small businesses and find an additional source of income.
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- Health Care
- Region
- Latin America
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IDB to support BoP families in the Dominican Republic with access to credit for home improvements
Loan of up to $5 million has mobilized an additional $5 million through a B-loan syndication.
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- Uncategorized
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- Latin America
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Brazilian Development Bank Loans $100m to Banco do Nordeste do Brasil to Expand Microcredit
Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), the Brazilian government’s development bank, reportedly has announced that it will loan USD 100 million to Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB), a public bank operating in Brazil’s Northeastern Region. The investment will be made from the microcredit program of BNDES, and BNB will commit an additional BRL 42.8 million (USD 16.6 million) to the effort. The proceeds will be used to fund individual entrepreneurs as well as micro- and small enterprises (MSEs). The interest rate of the wholesale loan will be set according to the country’s Long-term Interest Rate (known as TJLP in portuguese), which currently stands at 5.5 percent, plus 1.1 percent [1].
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- Uncategorized
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- Latin America
- Tags
- lending
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Press Release: Better Than Cash Alliance Study Shows Colombia’s Digital Payment Tool for Coffee Farmers Is a Model to Replicate
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) Smart Coffee ID Card (CCI), launched in 2006, has become a vital tool for financial inclusion and change in the productive dynamics of Colombia´s rural sector, according to the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), a United Nations alliance of governments, companies and the development community committed to the global transition from cash to electronic payments.
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- Agriculture
- Region
- Latin America
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MasterCard and Movistar Launch Peru’s First Mobile Money Service
With the goal of promoting financial and social inclusion in Peru, Movistar, in alliance with MasterCard, has announced the launch of “Your Mobile Money” (Tu Dinero Movil), the first electronic money service in Peru, which will offer users significant savings in their money transfers.
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- Technology
- Region
- Latin America