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The Game-Changing Potential of a Regulatory Sandbox: Why Creating a Safe Space for Digital Innovation Is a Necessity for Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh
While Bangladesh has made notable progress in accelerating financial inclusion, around 50% of Bangladeshis still remain unbanked. As Jakirul Islam at Bank Asia points out, this highlights a need for more technological disruption – and more regulatory innovation. He explores the potential of a “regulatory sandbox” approach, in which the government provides a safe harbor for businesses to test inventive new products, services and business models.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Bank Mitras in India: How Agents of Financial Inclusion Were Neglected During the Pandemic
The bank mitras continue to work without defined working provisions and under inadequate remuneration, observed the AIBEA in a letter addressed to the bankers’ body.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Analysis: Financial Inclusion Helps Youth Mitigate COVID-19 Impact
Recognizing this, financial regulators and policymakers should consider a series of factors when developing financial inclusion policies in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Viewpoint: How Mobile Wallets Fend Off Economic Shocks
Households as well as companies can mitigate economic risks better by adopting mobile-based transactions, a new study finds.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Avoiding Another Crash: How Global Standards Set after the 2008 Crisis Prepared the Financial System to Weather COVID-19
International standard-setting bodies have been working to strengthen global financial stability ever since the 2008 crisis. And according to Robin Newnham at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, they are now playing vitally important roles in the global response to COVID-19. He explores how the global financial system is seeing the benefits of the reforms of the past decade – and how these efforts can expand in the future.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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A Sector in Ruins or ‘Building Back Better’? Findings From e-MFP’s Covid-19 Financial Inclusion Compass
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession it has triggered, the financial inclusion sector is facing perhaps the greatest crisis in its modern history. In response, the European Microfinance Platform repurposed this year's Financial Inclusion Compass survey for this critical moment. Sam Mendelson discusses the results, and what they say about the sector's priorities, challenges and prospects for recovery.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Liberia: MTN Liberia Launches International Remittances Direct to Mobile Money Accounts
Lonestar Cell MTN, one of Liberia's leading GSM and Mobile Financial Services companies, announces that, as of August 3, 2020, Mobile Money customers can receive money from their family and friends anywhere in the world directly to the MoMo accounts, free of charge with the launch of International Remittances.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Analysis: How Can Digital Financial Services Help a World Coping With COVID-19?
The global economy will likely contract by over 5 percent in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, according to the recently released Global Economic Prospects. The deepest global recession in eight decades is sending hundreds of millions into poverty, and recovery appears to be far off. Still, the crisis has encouraged incentives for economic transformation and adoption of digital business models, including increased use of digital financial services (DFS).
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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