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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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Digital Identity Initiatives for Government Services See a Mix of Progress and Delay
“There is a strong push by the government for a national digital ID, which will be used by government and private sectors, to meet the needs to identify individuals accessing e-services and authenticate other secure transactions,” said NEC Corp of Malaysia Sdn Bhd MD Chong Kai Wooi.
- Categories
- Technology
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Why It’s Time for Africa to Adopt a Regional Digital Financial Identity
Over 1 billion people globally lack any form of officially recognized identification. According to Nkosinathi Ncube at FinMark Trust, this is a significant obstacle to financial inclusion and other development efforts – but overcoming it is no easy task. He explores some of the challenges to expanding access to formal identity in Africa, and explains why an effective solution will require regional action.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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What’s Needed to Prevent Cyberbiosecurity Threats and Protect Vulnerable Countries
Eroded trust in technology is dangerous at any time but especially during a global pandemic such as COVID-19.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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Biometrics Support Financial Services Efficiency in Malawi, Nigeria and Ghana as UNHCR Ramps Up in Niger
The biometrics business continues as normal in parts of Africa.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Mastercard’s CEO is Working Toward Financial Inclusion During the Pandemic
“I believe that digitization is a mechanism to deliver inclusive growth,” he said, “but digitization is also the vehicle for those who are left out to feel even further left out.”
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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The Informal Economy is Complicating Government Responses to COVID-19: Will the Crisis Push Millions Toward Formality?
As COVID-19 devastates the global economy, many governments have designed support measures to help businesses and workers survive. But as Jill Lagos Shemin and James Dailey point out, this support may be ineffective in lower-income countries, where most small businesses and their employees work in the informal economy, lacking bank accounts and even valid ID. They explore some solutions governments can pursue – and trade-offs they will have to accept.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Finance
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What Happens When a Billion Identities Are Digitized?
Over the last decade, India’s Aadhaar, a biometrically secured national identification system, has allowed millions to participate in the country’s economic life. But the system’s success has ignited a debate over whether any entity, public or private, should have the ability to pool our full digital profiles.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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