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Alibaba Partners with British Lenders as it Expands Financial Platform Reach
Alibaba, the Chinese internet conglomerate, has formed another strategic alliance to provide loans to businesses. Earlier this month Alibaba inked an agreement with Lending Club to facilitate loans to US businesses seeking to purchase goods from China manufacturers. Now Alibaba has created a similar arrangement with ezbob and iwoca in the United Kingdom. This is the first deal by Alibaba, using e-credit line, to help provide credit to SMEs in Europe.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending
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Press Release: MetLife Foundation Sponsors ‘The Financial Inclusion Challenge’ in Asia
Today, MetLife Foundation announced its exclusive sponsorship and launch of The Financial Inclusion Challenge. The Challenge, developed in partnership with MetLife Foundation and managed by The Wall Street Journal, is a two-year global project launching in Asia with the aim of encouraging non-profit and for-profit enterprises to submit proposals that provide innovative, sustainable solutions for individuals and families struggling to be part of the financial mainstream.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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INTERVIEW: Muhammad Yunus discusses the Indian microfinance industry
The Nobel laureate and founder of microfinance pioneer Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank says MFIs in India could be greedy and tapping the capital market or raising loans from private equity funds is a bad idea.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Financial Inclusion in Focus in India, but Bank Loans to Micro Sector Fall 5.5%
State-run banks may have created a record with opening of Jan Dhan accounts, but when it comes to lending to the poor, they are actually faltering. Bank loans to the micro sector, the target group of the government's financial inclusion drive and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), have fallen 5.5% over the last 14 months, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Social Issues-Focused Digital Media Co The Better India Raises $160K From Intellecap
Bangalore-based The Better India Pvt Ltd, which runs a news website focusing on social issues under the same brand, has raised $160,000 (Rs 1 crore) in funding from members of angel network Intellecap Impact Investment Network (I-cube-N), a company statement said. Investors include Raveen Sastry, a co-founder of e-commerce portal Myntra.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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India Bets on Mobiles in Battle on Maternal, Child Deaths
India is betting on cheap mobile phones to cut some of the world's highest rates of maternal and child deaths, as it rolls out a campaign of voice messages delivering health advice to pregnant women and mothers.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- nutrition
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Indian Pharma Firms Must Innovate in Face of Generic Drugs Slowdown
Indian pharmaceuticals companies need to diversify their product range and focus on evolving as innovators as growth in generic market is expected to slow down over the next decade, a study by industry body Assocham said on Monday.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Interview: Stuart Hart on How Indian Microfinance Institutions Can Improve Their Negative Image
In the second part of his interview to the Chairman of Indian Council of Competitiveness, Amit Kapoor, global thinker and Founder and President of Enterprise for a Sustainable World, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping businesses make the transition to sustainability, Stuart Hart talks about how Indian micro finance institutions can work towards cleaning their negative image.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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