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Press Release: Mayada El-Zoghbi Is the New Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
"For more than a decade, CFI has played an important role, challenging and engaging the financial services industry to better serve, protect, and empower people around the world. I am pleased that Mayada El-Zoghbi has accepted to join as the new managing director. Her extensive experience in research and advocacy position her as the right leader to build on CFI's strong foundation of innovative, industry-shaping work," said Accion CEO and President Michael Schlein.
- Categories
- Finance
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Accion Venture Lab Launches $23m Inclusive Fintech Startup Fund
The Accion Venture Lab Limited Partnership, as it’s called, will make seed-stage investments in inclusive fintech startups, defined as ventures that “that leverage technology to increase the reach, quality, and affordability of financial services for the under-served at scale,” per a company release.
- Categories
- Finance
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Micro-Lending Startup Ftcash Raises $7.23 Mn Series A Funding
Founded in 2015 by Sanjeev Chandak, Deepak Kothari and Vaibhav Lodha, Ftcash provides short-term loans to merchants. The startup plans to use the funds to accelerate product development and drive its expansion efforts.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Does Greater Inclusion Lead to Financial Health? New Research Raises Pointed Questions for the Industry
Does financial inclusion really lead to financial health? The industry has largely been operating under the assumption that the answer is "yes" - but a new Gallup survey of more than 15,000 people in 10 very different countries reveals a more complex picture. Sonja Kelly and Evelyn Stark explore the results of this "unprecedented look at personal finance and how people perceive their situation," in a discussion that raises vital questions about the future direction of financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Finance
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Beyond Inclusion: How Mission-Based Small Business Lenders are Evolving Their Definition of Impact
While microfinance institutions have grown rapidly around the globe, so too has economic inequality in developed countries. More than two decades ago, Accion in the U.S. and Opportunity Fund responded by adapting their microlending model from low-income markets to the United States. Gina Harman and Luz Urrutia, the respective CEOs of those two organizations, share new research on small loans have impacted revenues and profits for borrowing entrepreneurs, most of whom lacked the financing and resources they needed to start or grow their businesses.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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India’s RBL Bank Completes Ownership of Microfinance Institution (MFI) Swadhaar Finserve with Equity Purchases from Accion, Individual Investors
For an undisclosed prices, RBL bought a 36-percent stake from US-based NGO Accion and a total of 4 percent from a group of unidentified individual investors.
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- Accion, banking, financial services, microfinance, MSMEs, SMEs
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Press release: New Report: Banks Increasingly Embrace Data to Reach Underserved Customers
The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and the Institute of International Finance (IIF), with the support of MetLife Foundation, released a report that examines how new types of data and new data tools present an unprecedented opportunity for financial service providers to understand and serve clients—particularly credit-seeking, "thin-file" clients who are otherwise excluded from the formal financial sector.
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The ‘Start Small, Stay Small’ Dilemma: How Nonprofit/Private Partnerships Can Boost Women-Owned Businesses
Women-owned businesses tend to start small and stay small, in part due to challenges accessing credit. They're also more likely to be discouraged from applying for financing for fear of being declined. Gina Harman, CEO of Accion's U.S. Network, and Andrea Jung, CEO of Grameen America, explain how their organizations are serving these entrepreneurs – and highlight some important ways this work can be expanded.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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