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Unlocking the Power of Digital Financial Services for Humanitarian Response
More people worldwide are in crisis than ever before and the humanitarian sector is transforming how it responds to them; it's moving away from a commodities-based approach toward cash-based assistance. Digitizing these cash payments can help build bridges between the humanitarian and development sectors, but progress has been slow. What can speed it up? A new report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation might help.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- data, digital finance, fintech
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National Payments Corporation of India begins pilot project to digitize transactions in microfinance sector
Under the project, RBL Bank will disburse loans and HDFC Bank will receive loan repayments for the transactions of Svatantra Microfinance using Aadhaar and USSD based facilities.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Paying for School: Six Insights for Better Financial Services
The inability to pay fees and other education expenses keeps many children out of school. What is the extent of these challenges, who is affected and what kinds of financial services could help? These questions are explored here by Michelle Kaffenberger and Lauren Braniff, and in a new CGAP publication, “Digital Finance and Innovations in Financing for Education.”
- Categories
- Education
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EXCLUSIVE: Bandhan Bank CEO on why we still need physical branches
The competition in the banking sector is all about services, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bandhan Bank, said in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol's Beena Parmar. Since starting operations in August 2015, the Kolkata-headquartered lender has garnered a record deposit base of Rs 20,000 crore and a similar amount in its loan portfolio.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Artoo Partners with Microfinance Institution Grameen Koota in India
Grameen Koota, a pioneer in rural lending, is expanding its product portfolio and venturing into Individual lending for its rural customer base. To this end, it has partnered with FinTech firm Artoo to develop a digital lending model to launch Individual business loans. Artoo’s intelligent digital platform will enable it to go paperless and reduce loan approval and go-to-market time significantly.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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How Jack Ma’s Acquisition Of US-Based MoneyGram Could Be Good For Africans
China’s richest man, Jack Ma, and his acquisition of U.S.-based money transfer firm MoneyGram show the importance of remittances as a powerful driver of economic change at both the individual and international level, according to the competition.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Report: Accelerating Financial Inclusion in South-East Asia
Promoting the use of formal financial services continues to be a challenge, and the depth of engagement varies with different financial products: Only 18% of adults use a bank account to receive wages or pay utility bills, and only 11% borrow from formal sources.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Social Business Roundup: Debating UBI in India, Pondering Change at WHO, Questioning SRI
In this week's social business roundup, our editors note the growing debate over replacing welfare programs with a universal basic income (UBI) in India, the limitations of WHO's donor-funded model, and an ironic side-effect of SRI's avoidance of "sin stocks" – among other developments making recent headlines.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing
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